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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


GIFT  OF 


Mrs.  Chas.  Baker 


(SL,M^  (^.  /3^.^^i^ 


KLa^kjlAJ 


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TWO  HUXDRED  AND  SEVEXTY- 
FIVE  COPIES  ONLY  OF  THIS  BOOK 
HAVE  BEEN  PRINTED,  OF  WHICH 
FIFTEEN  HAVE  BEEN  RESERVED 
FOR  THE  AUTHOR,  AND  THE 
TYPE     HAS     BEEN     DISTRIBUTED. 

No Ls.i:r> 


Copyright,  1918,  by 

The  Bell  Book  and  Stationery  Co.,  Inc. 

Richmond,   Virginia 


Col.  JOHN  WISE. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS. 


:)  -J^ 


vOS 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


OF 


ENGLAND  AND  VIRGINIA 

(1617-1695) 


His  Ancestors  and  Descendants 


JENNINGS  CROPPER  WISE 

Virginia  Historical  Society 


INCLUDING  MANY  BRIEF  BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 


c 


^ 


x^ 


\ 

\ 


Chapter 
I. 
II. 

III. 


IV. 

V. 

VI. 

\ 

VII. 

'<-■ 

VIII. 

IX. 

J 

X. 

XI. 
XII. 

XIII. 
XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 
XVII. 

XVIII. 
XIX. 


XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

Of  the  Wise  Family  in  England.. 15 

Col.  John  Wise,  the  Immigrant — Scarburgh,  Littleton,  and 
Southey  Families,  and  Unrelated  Families  of  Wise  in  America     27 

Hon.  John  Wise  II.,  and  the  Other  Children  of  Hon.  John 
Wise  I.,  and  Their  Descendants — The  West  Family — The 
Wises   of   "Abingdon" 53 

Col.  John  Wise  HI. — Robinson  Family 69 

Col.  John  Wise  IV. — Douglas,  Hill,  Drummond,  Gillett,  Parsons, 
Custis,  Blackstone,  Nottingham,  Evans,  Poulson,  and  Floyd 
Families    „ 73 

Major  John  Wise  V. — Henry,  Cropper,  Corbin,  Bowman,  Custis, 
Michael,  Thorogood,   Pettitt,  and   Bayly  Families 87 

Descendants  of  Major  John  Wise  V.  and  His  First  Wife,  Mary 
Henry 113 

Descendants  of  Tully  Robinson  Wise  I.  of  the  Fourth  Gen- 
eration,  and   Tabitha   Douglas 117 

Craney  Island  Branch — George  Douglas  Wise  and  His 
Descendants    .- 123 

Virginia  Division  of  the  "Craney  Island"   Branch 127 

"Baltimore"  and  "Navy"  Division  of  the  Craney  Island  Branch  133 

Descendants  of  Margaret  Douglas  Pettitt  Wise  of  the  Sixth 
Generation — Daughter  of  Major  John  Wise  V.  and  Sarah 
Corbin  Cropper,  and  Wife  of  Hon.  Tully  Robinson  Wise 147 

John  Cropper  Wise  of  the  Sixth  Generation,  and  His  Descend- 
ants— Son  of  Major  John  Wise  V.  and  Sarah  Corbin  Cropper  159 

Henry  Alexander  Wise  of  the  Sixth  Generation— Son  of  Major 
John  Wise  V.  and  Sarah  Corbin  Cropper 171 

Descendants  of  Henry  Alexander  Wise  and.  His  First  Wife, 
Anne  Jennings — Including  the  Garnett,  Hobson,  and  Haxall 
Alliances    189' 

Richard  Alsop  Wise  of  the  Sixth  Generation — Son  of  Henry 
Alexander  Wise  and  Sarah  Sergeant,  and  His  Descendants.—  223 

Margaretta  Ellen  Wise  and  Her  Descendants — Daughter  of 
Henry  Alexander  Wise  and  Sarah  Sergeant,  and  Wife  of 
William   Carrington  Mayo 235 

John  Sergeant  Wise  of  the  Seventh  Generation — Son  of  Henry 
Alexander  Wise  and  Sarah  Sergeant,  and  His  Descendants.—  239 

Sarah  Sergeant — Wife  of  Governor  Henry  Alexander  Wise, 
Her  Ancestry — Including  the  Families  of  Sergeant,  Dickinson. 
Spencer,  Selden,  Eatton,  Wardwell,  Perkins,  Watmough,  Ellis, 
Willard,  Mills,  Dunster,  Carmick,  Hall,  and  Kock,  and 
References  to  Certain  Families  Descended  from  John  Ser- 
geant, Including  Those  of  Gerhard,  Meade,  Smith,  Large, 
and  Cram 257 

Evelyn  Beverley  Douglas — Wife  of  John  Sergeant  Wise,  Her 
Ancestry — Douglas,  Farquhar,  Campbell,  Crawford,  Hume, 
Menzies",    Orrick,    Offutt 287 

Evelyn  Beverley — Wife  of  Dr.  Patrick  Hume  Douglas,  Her 
Ancestry — Beverley,  Byrd,  Hone,  Bland,  Bennett,  Randolph, 
Isham    305 

Maria  Carter — Wife  of  Robert  Beverley,  Her  Ancestry — Carter, 
Byrd,  Landon,  Ludlowe,  Taylor 317 

Nancy  Hamilton — Wife  of  Hugh  Douglas,  Her  Ancestry — 
Hamilton,  Guy,  Kinkead,  Hale,  Smith,  Offutt,  Warner, 
Mathews,  Reade 327 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

No.  Page 

1'.     "Mount  Wise,"  Plymouth,  Devonshire,  England 14 

2.  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  K.  B 23 

3.  Sir  Charles  Scarborough,   R.  S 37 

4.  Major  John   Wise 90 

5.  Gen.   John   Cropper : 104 

6.  Dr.  John  James   Wise 116 

7.  Capt.  George  Stewart  Wise,  U.  S.  Navy.. 136 

8.  Catherine  Stansberry 137 

9.  Capt.  Frederick  May  Wise,  U.  S.  Navy 139 

10.  Capt.  Henry  Augustus  Wise,  U.  S.  Navy 142 

11.  Margaret   Douglas   Pettitt  Wise 149 

12.  Hon.  George  Douglas  Wise 153 

13.  Gen.    Peyton    Wise 156 

14.  Major  John  Cropper  Wise 162 

15.  Commodore  John  Cropper  Wise,  U.  S.  Navy 165 

16.  Capt.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  C.  S.  A 167 

17.  Gov.    Henry   Alexander   Wise 175 

18.  Anne  Jennings 192 

19.  Henry  Wise  Garnett,  Esq 194 

20.  Henry   Wise    Hobson 202 

21.  Capt.  Obidiah  Jennings  Wise 210 

22.  Rev.    Henry   Alexander   Wise 219 

23.  Hon.   Richard  Alsop  Wise 229 

24.  Hon.  John   Sergeant  Wise 245 

25.  Sarah    Sergeant 259 

26.  Hon.  John  Sergeant 260 

27.  Hon.  Jonathan    Dickinson    Sergeant 262 

28.  Jonathan    Dickinson 264 

29.  Margaret    Spencer 266 

30.  Margaretta    Watmough 271 

31.  James  Horatio  Watmough 273 

32.  Anne    Carmick 280 

33.  Stephen    Carmick 281 

34.  Gen.    Hugh    Douglas 290 

35.  Hugh    Douglas 297 

36.  Evelyn   Byrd    Beverley   Douglas 301 

37.  William   Randolph,   of   "Turkey   Island" 313 

38.  Mary    Isham .-  314 

39.  Robert  "King"  Carter,  of  "Corotoman" 320 

40.  Betty   Landon 321 

41.  Landon  Carter,  of  "Sabine  Hall" 322 

42.  Col.  William   Byrd  H.,  of  "Westover" 324 

43.  Maria    Byrd 325 

44.  Nancv    Hamilton 345 


PREFACE. 

This  preface  is  not  designed  as  an  apology.  Xo  apology  is  necessary  for 
a  record  of  one's  forebears  and  the  history  of  one's  family — patriis  z'irtutibus. 
It  is  only  for  unsubstantiated  claims  to  blood  connections,  which  either  do 
not  exist,  or  which  can  not  be  full\-  established,  that  excuses  are  necessary. 
It  is  a  sad  fact  that  many  people  to-day  have  been  prevented  by  indis- 
criminating  ridicule  from  compiling  and  preserving  family  records.  That 
which  the  owner  of  a  good  dog  will  do  for  his  dumb  pet  many  will  not  do 
for  their  children.  But  even  the  keen  shafts  of  Voltaire  can  not  penetrate 
the  armor  of  just  pride  with  which  some  of  us  are  clad.  "Those  skilled 
in  heraldic  science  are  fools  with  long  memories."  wrote  the  ironic  French 
wit.  But  it  may  be  added  to  this  statement  that  those  who  wilfully  keep 
their  descendants  ignorant  of  their  forebears,  victimize  posterity  by  their 
own  stupidity.  Burke  was  right  when  he  said,  "People  will  not  look  for- 
ward to  posterity  who  never  look  backward  to  their  ancestors."  Nothing  is 
so  great  an  incentive  to  clean  and  upright  living,  as  the  knowledge  that  one's 
ancestors  have  been  reputable.  The  consciousness  that  one's  forebears  have 
been  men  and  women  of  breeding  and  position,  is  well  calculated  to  create 
a  desire  to  prove  worthy  of  their  blood,  and  to  emulate  their  deeds  when 
they  have  been  men  of  eminent  distinction.  A  family  without  a  history  is 
like  a  nation  without  traditions.  Pride  of  the  past  in  the  case  of  both  is  a 
healthy  stimulant,  and  in  this  sense  the  record  of  one's  ancestors  is  a 
valuable  asset  to  any  man.  It  is  not  legal  tender,  however,  and  will  not  be 
accepted  in  lieu  of  current  coin,  or  the  present  worth  of  the  one  who  seeks 
to  palm  it  off  for  value  received,  and  the  man  who  attempts  to  substitute 
the  good  record  of  his  forebears  for  his  own  unworthy  record,  is  but  a 
counterfeiter. 

It  is  a  fatal  error  for  one  to  assume  the  amor  patriae  et  amor  familice 
of  the  ancients,  to  be  the  equivalent  of  the  amour  propre  of  the  modern 
tongue. 

We  cherish  the  names  of  our  national  heroes.  Were  we  not  taught  to 
love  them  as  in  childhood  days  we  sat  on  a  parent's  knee  and.  half  awake, 
half  dreaming,  listened  to  the  tales  of  their  heroic  deeds,  while  our  eyes 
grew  heavy  with  the  warmth  of  the  smouldering  fire?  Was  it  not  then  that 
the  real  spark  of  patriotism — love  of  country — was  struck  on  the  hearth 
of  home?  Yes.  And  how  we  pity  the  man  who  knew  no  family  fireside  in 
his  youth,  and  neither  loves  his  race,  or  that  smaller  nation — the  men  from 
whom  he  is  sprung.  How  happy  is  he  who  can  now  and  then  picture,  in  the 
glowing  embers  of  his  thoughts,  ancestors  in  the  first  assemblies  at  James- 
town, others  with  Bacon  or  Berkeley,  still  others,  beside  Washington  at 
Monmouth  and  Yorktown.  and  many,  O  how  many,  with  Lee  at  Gettysburg 
and  Appomattox ! 


10  PREFACE 

Why  then  should  we  neglect  to  instill  this  love  of  race  in  the  hearts  of 
our  children  ?  Shall  we,  by  stupidly  neglecting  to  record  our  family  history 
in  collected  "form,  deny  to  future  generations  of  American  children  the 
pleasure  and  the  profit  of  listening  to  the  winter's  tale — -the  story  of  the 
past?  Shall  we  keep  them  in  ignorance  of  their  ancestors,  and  instill  in 
them  no  pride  of  race?  It  was  these  self-same  ancestors  that  helped  make 
their  country  what  it  is.  Surely  it  is  right  to  make  the  nation's  heroes  more 
real  by  associating  with  them  the  forebears  of  our  children,  and  to  make 
our  ancestors  more  real  by  associating  them  with  the  country's  history.  This 
much  should  be  done  in  the  interest  of  both  our  country  and  our  children. 
When  men  come  to  see  that  love  of  family  is  love  of  race,  and  that  love  of 
rave  is  patriotism,  there  will  be  heard  less  sarcasm  about  genealogy,  and 
worthy  ancestors  will  be  held  in  greater  esteem  by  their  descendants. 

And  so,  if  any  man  scofif  at  me  because  I  present  the  unbroken  history 
of  ten  generations  of  the  men  of  my  name  in  Virginia,  I  care  not  for  his 
sneers.  This  record  is  not  compiled  for  him,  but  for  my  children,  and  my 
brothers'  children,  and  their  children,  and  grandchildren,  who  will,  in  the 
course  of  nature,  increase  in  numbers  with  each  succeeding  generation. 
Some  of  them  will  be  made  better  men  by  an  intimate  knowledge  of  their 
father's  father  and  his  father  before  him,  unto  the  first  generation  of  his 
family  in  America.  Indeed,  as  I  write  these  words,  I  try  to  picture  the 
eleventh  and  the  twelfth  and  the  thirteenth  generations,  and  find  myself 
wondering  if  these  children  of  the  future  will  find  the  meaning  of  America 
more  real  by  reason  of  what  I  have  written  as  I  have  found  Virginia.  Or 
will  the  spirit  of  America,  as  my  great-grandfathers.  Wise,  and  Cropper, 
and  Sergeant,  and  Douglas  knew  it,  be  but  a  tender  tradition  with  them  as 
the  spirit  of  "Old  Virginia"  is  fast  becoming  even  with  the  Virginians  of  to- 
day? My  speculations  on  this  point  have  led  me  to  see  that  there  is  senti- 
ment in  the  contemplation  of  the  future  as  well  as  in  reflection  on  the  past, 
and  my  heart  grows  sick  when  I  ponder  the  possibility  that  "Columbia,"  in 
the  cruel  process  of  evolution,  may  wear  for  a  time  the  dazzling  crown  of 
power,  only  to  have  it  rust  upon  her  head  as  it  did  upon  "Old  Virginia's." 
"Old  Virginia"  grew  weak  because  the  stalwart  legions  of  her  youthful  sons 
deserted  her  in  the  hour  of  her  need,  passing  westward,  and  westward,  and 
ever  marching  towards  the  setting  sun  of  their  motherland.  A  sterner 
patriotism — a  combination  of  atnor  patricr  et  amor  familicr.  must  be  en- 
gendered in  the  hearts  of  our  people  lest  America  become  like  "Old 
Virginia" — in  all  but  form  a  sweet  and  glorious  tradition.  It  remains  for 
our  children,  through  this  sterner  love,  to  prevent  the  overthrow  of  "Old 
America"  by  the  hyphenated  hosts  that  now  threaten  to  submerge  its  insti- 
tutions. The  day  is  already  at  hand  when  those  who  inhabit  the  land  must 
undergo  the  blood  test  in  order  that  the  cancerous  growth  of  foreign  in- 
fluence may  be  cut  from  the  body  politic  of  the  nation. 

One  who  peruses  the  pages  I  have  written  will  note  that  there  are  four 
chronological  groups  in  the  family  of  Wise— that  there  are  four  logical  eras 


PREFACE  11 

in  its  history.  First,  there  is  the  EngHsh  era,  or  premigratory  group,  em- 
bracing a  large  number  of  restless  men  who  invariably  aligned  themselves 
with  their  Kings  in  their  struggles  to  maintain  the  royal  prerogatives.  Ap- 
parently they  were  not  compromisers.  They  were  not  negative  in  their  at- 
tachments, but  positive  and  partisan,  for  which  they  suffered  in  material 
fortune. 

The  second  era  is  the  Colonial  era.  The  same  restless  spirit  of  liberty 
which  induced  the  migration  of  many  of  the  family  of  Wise  from  England 
to  Virginia,  New  England,  the  West  Indies,  and  elsewhere,  again  manifested 
itself,  for  those  who  came  to  Virginia  and  New  England  were  also  positive 
men  if  John  Wise,  of  Accomack,  and  John  Wise,  of  Massachusetts,  are  a 
fair  sample  of  them.  While  the  former  was  engaged  in  a  revolt  against 
"taxation  without  representation"  in  Virginia,  in  1652,  the  latter  was  voicing 
those  other  revolutionary  sentiments,  reiterated  a  century  later,  and  which 
found  their  way  into  the  Declaration  of  Independence!  (See  John  Fiske's 
"Beginnings  of  New  England".)  Not  only  were  the  Wises  of  Accomack 
engaged  in  the  Royalist  Revolt  of  1652,  in  the  Tobacco  Conspiracy  of  1682, 
but  with  equal  independence  denounced  James  II.,  the  son  and  successor  of 
the  Prince  who  had  claimed  their  loyalty.  In  1676  we  find  them  ardently 
loyal  to  the  King  during  Berkeley's  struggle  with  Bacon.  In  none  of  these 
affairs  were  they  tacitly  sympathetic.  Whatever  their  cause,  they  were 
highly  partisan  throughout  the  Colonial  period  which  ended  with  Col.  John 
Wise  IV.  as  King's  Lieutenant  of  his  county. 

Then  followed  the  Revolutionary  period  with  only  two  youths  of  the 
name  living  in  Virginia — both  mere  lads,  but  both  serving  in  their  "tender 
teens"  as  soldiers  of  the  American  Revolution.  Until  of  late  it  was  not 
known  that  the  family  was  represented  in  the  Revolutionary  Army  by  men 
of  the  name  Wise.  The  father  of  Major  John  Wise  and  Tully  Robinson 
Wise,  the  only  males  of  the  fifth  generation,  died  in  1769.  The  two  sons 
were  mere  children  in  1776,  but  the  recent  military  publications  show  that 
they  were  both  enrolled  as  patriot  soldiers.  So  passed  the  formative  period 
of  the  nation.  During  the  critical  period  of  American  history,  that  period 
embracing  the  formation  of  the  union  and  the  War  of  1812,  or  the  con- 
summation of  the  Revolution,  the  family  was  represented  in  affairs  of  Church 
and  State  with  John  Wise  of  the  fifth  generation.  Speaker  of  the  House  dur- 
ing the  famous  session  of  '98,  and  a  major  in  the  War  of  1812,  while  his 
brother,  representing  his  people  in  the  Episcopal  Convention  of  '85,  bore  a 
leading  part  in  the  great  struggle  of  the  Established  Church  to  maintain 
itself  against  its  ever-increasing  enemies. 

We  now  come  to  the  fourth  era  of  the  family,  beginning  with  the  sixth 
generation  and  embracing  the  present.  In  that  era  we  find  Henry  Alexander 
Wise  a  commanding  figure  in  national  politics,  declining  nomination  as  a 
presidential  candidate,  but  the  undoubted  leader  of  his  own  party,  ambassador 
to  a  foreign  State,  governor  of  Virginia,  and  general  in  the  Conferedate 
Army,   with   twenty-three   sons,    sons-in-law,    and    nephews,    including   every 


12  PREFACE 

kinsman  in  Virginia  of  his  name,  fighting  by  his  side,  with  a  general,  and  two 
commodores  and  a  lieutenant  in  the  U.  S.  Navy  representing  the  family  in 
the  North.  In  this  same  era  we  find  in  civil  life,  beside  a  governor  and 
foreign  minister,  four  members  of  the  National  Congress,  a  gubernatorial 
candidate,  three  United  States  Attorneys,  for  Virginia,  New  York,  and 
Colorado,  respectively,  an  Auditor  of  the  Treasury,  a  Collector  of  the  Port 
of  San  Francisco,  a  Secretary  of  Legation,  a  Consul  General,  two  Common- 
wealth's Attorneys,  three  Members  of  the  Episcopal  Ministry,  an  Editor, 
four  Authors,  five  Educators,  and  numerous  medical  men  and  lawyers.  In 
the  military  and  naval  service  of  the  United  States  we  find  a  general, 
four  commodores,  three  majors,  and  several  officers  of  lesser  rank  in 
both  branches  of  the  service,  and  an  adjutant-general  and  many  officers 
in  the  State  troops.  Such  a  partial  record  as  this,  confined  as  it  is  to  the 
direct  descendants  of  the  immigrant  founder  of  the  family  in  America,  bear- 
ing his  name,  is  not  accidental,  but  is  evidence  of  a  physical  and  intellectual 
virility  of  which  any  family  may  be  justly  proud.  How  potent  has  been  the 
Wise  blood,  and  how  much  the  allied  strains  have  contributed,  in  producing 
such  results,  is  a  matter  that  can  not  be  determined.  The  blood  influence  of 
the  Scarburghs,  of  Col.  Tully  Robinson,  of  Col.  George  Douglas,  and  of 
Gen.  John  Cropper  was  certainly  recognized  by  the  contemporaries  to  have 
been  very  apparent  upon  their  Wise  descendants,  and  so  also  is  that  of  John 
Sergeant,  and  of  the  Douglases,  Beverleys,  Carters,  Randolphs,  and  Byrds, 
through  Evelyn  Byrd  Beverley  Douglas.  But  surely  the  record  of  the  family 
of  Wise  which  I  have  compiled,  showing  frequent  crossings  and  recrossings 
of  Wise  blood  itself  by  the  repeated  intermarriages  of  blood  relations — first 
cousins  in  no  less  than  two  instances — in  the  direct  line  of  descent,  saved 
from  weakness  by  periodic  infusions  of  virile  blood,  will  prove  of  interest  to 
the  student  of  heredity,  and  will  explain  many  persistent  family  char- 
acteristics, mental  and  physical,  which  have  been  so  commonly  remarked. 

My  work  has  been  based  primarily  upon  several  remarkable  family  charts 
prepared  by  my  father  about  1890-5.  They  include  charts  of  the  families  of 
Wise,  Sergeant,  Douglas,  and  Beverley,  showing  all  the  descendants  of  each 
generation.  Then  there  was  a  composite  chart  showing  the  direct  descent 
along  all  lines  of  his  own  children.  Copies  of  these  charts,  which  were  litho- 
graphed, were  distributed  by  my  father  among  the  kin,  and  others  were  filed 
in  various  libraries  and  historical  societies.  The  Douglas  chart  is  the  finest, 
perhaps,  1  have  ever  seen.  In  addition  to  these  I  had  access  to  the  Carter 
and  other  charts. 

My  father's  work  was  monumental.  His  work  was  as  accurate  as  his 
researches  were  extensive,  and  it  has  been  a  keen  satisfaction  to  me  to  be 
able  to  extend  it  considerably.  Thus,  I  am  able  to  produce  a  work  carrying 
every  line  of  my  own  ancestors  back  to  the  immigrants,  and  many  of  them 
beyond. 

As  a  genealogical  record  my  work  is  by  no  means  orthodox  in  form.  The 
semi-biographical  aspect  was  purposely  given  it  to  make  it  more  interesting. 


PREFACE  13 

and  I  have  sought,  wherever  possible,  to  preserve  the  family  lore,  for  the 
association  of  persons  with  events  tends  to  clothe  them  with  a  personality 
more  real  than  is  imparted  to  them  by  the  mere  recordation  of  their  names 
and  a  few  lifeless  dates. 

In  conclusion  let  me  add  that  this  work  should  clear  up  much  confusion. 
The  names  John  Wise,  George  Douglas  Wise,  and  Tully  Robinson  Wise  ap- 
pear so  frequently  in  the  family  of  Wise,  and  there  have  been  so  many  inter- 
marriages in  the  families  of  W^ise  and  Douglas,  that  many  persons,  including 
members  of  the  family,  are  naturally  confused. 

JENNINGS  CROPPER  WISE. 
Richmond,  Va.,  September  1,  1916. 


"MOUNT  WISE" 
Plymouth  Harbor,  Devonshire,   England 


CHAPTER  I. 
Of  the  Wise  Family  in  England. 


The  Wises  are  a  Saxon  race  who  were  in  the  west  of  Eng- 
land before  the  Norman  Conquest,  at  which  period  one  Oliver 
Wise,  Gewis,  or  Gwiss.  is  stated  in  their  pedigree  to  have  been 
living  at  Greston.  (Documents  at  the  College  of  Heralds.  See 
also  Burke's  "Landed  Gentry,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  1768.) 

Various  efforts  have  been  made  to  connect  the  Wise  family 
with  the  Norman  family  of  Guisse  or  Guise,  of  which  there  are 
descendants  in  France  to-day,  and  the  frecjuent  use  of  the  name 
Wise  by  Jews  has  been  cited  as  evidence  that  the  Wises  of  Eng- 
land were  of  continental  origin.  The  answer  to  this  argument 
is  that  the  early  Saxon  name  of  Geweiss,  or  Geweis,  whicli  in 
the  British  Isles  became  Gewis  or  Gwiss,  became  Weiss  or  Weis 
on  the  continent,  and  has  been  anglicized  by  the  German  Jews  into 
Wise.  The  name  Weiss  or  Weis  is  a  common  one  among  the 
Jews  of  America.  Geweiss  or  Geweis  is  a  derivative  of  the 
German  verb,  to  know,  from  Avhich  come  the  nouns,  knowledge 
and  Z'.'isdoni,  and  the  adjective,  wise.  It  is  most  natural,  there- 
fore, that  the  Teutonic  word  should  have  arrived  at  the  same 
form  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  and  the  anglicized  German  Jews, 
and  it  is  not  necessary  to  seek  a  Latin  origin  for  it.  The  Norman 
Guisse  and  French  Guise  may  have  come  from  tlie  Teutonic  root 
as  well  as  the  English  name  Wise.     (Danish  Wis.) 

Oliver  Wise  of  Greston  was  followed  by  William  Wise,  whose 
son  Serlonius  and  his  three  sons,  Oliver,  Sir  John,  and  Henry, 
were  all  of  Greston.  These  three  sons  were  the  founders  of  the 
three  houses  of  Wise  in  Devonshire,  possibly  indicated  in  the 
family  arms  by  the  three  chevronels. 

The  son  of  Henry  (who  was  the  great-great-grandson  of 
Serlonius)  was  Sir  William  Wise,  Knight,  who  lived  in  the  first 
quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century  (1200  to  1225),  and  married 
Ela  de  Veteriponte,  or  DeViponte,  and  in  right  of  his  mother, 
their  son,  Serlonius  Wise,  became  possessed  of  the  manor  of 
Thrushelton,  adjacent  to  Maristowe.  The  son  of  this  Ser- 
lonius Wise  was  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  the  father  of  John  Wise  of 
"Sydenham,"  who  inherited  "Sydenliam"  in  right  of  his  mother, 
Allreda  Trevage. 


18  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

John  Wise,  son  of  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  married  Joane,  daughter 
of  John  Millaton  of  Meavy,  and  their  son  Thomas  by  his  alliance 
with  Margaret,  daughter  and  heir  of  Robert  Britt  of  Slottis- 
combc,  acquired  the  manor  of  Stoke  Damarel,  where  the  Wises 
afterwards  built  "Mount  Wise." 

John  Wise,  son  of  Thomas  Wise  and  Margaret  Britt,  married 
Thomazine,  daughter  of  Sir  Baldwin  Fulford,  of  Great  Fulford. 
wlio  was  a  celebrated  crusader.  Their  daughter,  Alice,  was  the 
mother  of  John  Russell,  first  Earl  of  Bedford;  and  their  son, 
Oliver  Wise,  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  John  Tremayne  of 
Collacombe,  and  had  issue,  John  Wise,  who  was  married  three 
times.  His  issue  by  his  first  wife.  Mary,  daughter  of  James 
Chudleigh  of  Ashton,  was  James,  Nicholas,  and  Ann;  by  his 
second  wife,  Dorothy  Legh.  he  had  two  sons,  Thomas  and  Piers; 
and  by  his  third  wife.  Ann.  daughter  of  Sir  George  Matthew, 
Knight,  he  had  two  children.  Leonard  and  Elizabeth. 

The  eldest  son  of  the  first  wife.  James  Wise,  married  Alicia 
Dynham,  daughter  of  John  Dynham  of  Wortham,  and  had 
issue:  John.  William.  George,  Rychard.  Philippa.  and  Margery. 
William  Wise,  the  second  son.  received  the  honor  of  knight- 
hood for  his  gallant  conduct  at  the  skirmish  known  in  history 
as  the  Battle  of  the  Spurs.  August  16,  1513.  From  this  fact  it 
is  often  said  that  \\'illiam  Wise  was  knighted  for  his  wit  by 
Henry  YHI. 

In  one  of  the  manuscripts  comprising  the  parchment  rolls  of 
the  family  is  narrated  the  following  incident  concerning  Sir 
William  W^ise : 

"Having  lente  to  the  King  his  signet  to  scale  a  letter,  who 
having  powdered  Ermites  on  the  seal — 'why  how  now  W'ise,' 
quoth  the  King.  'what,  hast  thou,  lice  here?' 

"Answer,  'And  if  it  like,  your  Majestie,'  quoth  Sir  William, 
'a  louse  is  a  rich  coate,  for  by  giving  the  louse,  I  part  arms  wdth 
the  French  King,  -in  that  he  giveth  the  fleur  de  lice,'  whereat  the 
King  laughed  heartily  to  hear  how  prettily  so  byting  a  taunt 
(namely,  j-iroceeding  from  a  King)  was  so  daynety  turned  to  so 
pleasante  a  conceit." 

In  a  book  entitled  "The  Rosi-Crucius"  (meaning  literally  Red- 
Cross,  and  dealing  with  a  body  of  mystics  of  medieval  days)  the 


HIS  AXCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  19 

author,  Hollingshead,  alludes  to  the  anecdote  concerning  Sir 
William  Wise,  and  suggests  the  fact  that  the  Wises  had  ermine  in 
their  arms  as  the  key  of  the  witticism.  This  inference  was  also 
drawn  by  the  author  of  a  curious  old  book  entitled  "Heraldic 
Anomalies,"  which  may  be  seen  in  the  Philadelphia  Library. 
Hollingshead  also  asserted  that  from  the  witticism  of  Sir  William 
Wise,  Shakespeare  took  his  line — "the  white  louses,  which  do 
become  an  old  coat  so  well." 

In  the  remark  of  the  King  it  will  be  observed  the  word  ermites 
was  used.  This  is  undoubtedly  a  contraction  of  erminites,  an  old 
heraldic  equivalent  of  ermines.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  in 
middle  English  the  modern  word  louse  was  spelled  lous,  and  its 
plural  was  lis  or  lys,  pronounced  lice — the  same  as  the  French 
word  lys,  meaning  lilies.  Wise's  quick  retort  was,  therefore,  in 
the  nature  of  a  fling  at  the  arms  of  the  French  King,  which  was 
well  calculated  to  please  His  Britannic  IMajesty. 

And  here  it  is  not  inappropriate  to  explain  the  origin  of  the  temi 
fleur-de-lys.  Many  efforts  have  been  made  to  show  from  the 
appearance  of  the  fleur-de-lis  in  their  arms,  that  certain  families 
were  descended  from  the  early  kings  of  France. 

The  origin  of  the  device  of  the  fleur-de-lis  has  given  rise  to 
considerable  speculation ;  but  the  popular  notion  of  its  deriving 
its  significance  from  Louis,  and  being  the  exclusive  ensign  of 
French  domination,  is  totally  erroneous.  Montfaucon  has  shown 
that  it  was  not  only  assumed  by  the  Frankish,  but  also  by  the 
Lombard  and  other  Teutonic  princes.  In  his  great  work,  he 
gives  engravings  of  statues  of  the  Merovingian  and  Capetian 
race  of  kings,  on  whose  scepters  and  crowns  the  fleur-de-lis  is 
distinctly  represented.  It  is  to  be  met  with  in  remains  from 
Babylonia,  and  in  sculptures  from  Nineveh.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  the  lotus  is  the  flower  intended  by  it.  and  the  lotus,  we  know, 
was  regarded  as  of  peculiar  mystic  import  in  Egypt  and  through- 
out the  East.  The  lotus  was  the  symbol  of  eternal  life,  which 
suggests  divinity,  and  in  the  decorative  art  of  India  was  used 
especially  as  the  support  to  the  figure  of  a  divinity,  a  sage,  or 
deified  personage.  The  early  Norse  and  Frankish  kings  were 
familiar  with  the  customs  of  the  East,  through  their  association 
with  Rome,  and  the  Crusades  introduced  orientalism  into  France. 


20  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

How  natural  then  that  the  French  rulers,  believing  themselves  to 
be  divine,  should  have  adopted  the  Eastern  symbol  of  divinity. 
In  the  course  of  time  the  symbol  seems  to  have  become  the  settled 
and  peculiar  armorial  bearings  of  the  kings  of  France,  certainly 
long  before  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  as  the  descent  of  the 
families  bearing  it  from  his  ancestors  will  demonstrate.  The 
lotus  symbol  adopted  by  the  French  kings  was  especially  favored 
bv  Louis  VII.,  whose  name  was  spelt  Loys.  Then  the  lotus 
symbol  was  called  fleur-de-loys,  or  the  flower  of  Loys ;  then  it 
became  fleur-de-Louis,  and  finally  fleur-de-lys.  In  other  words, 
its  original  French  meaning — the  flower  of  Loys  or  Louis — was 
lost  sight  of,  and  the  meaning  of  the  symbol  was  interpreted  as 
fleur-de-lvs.  or  the  lily  flower.  For  many  years,  however,  the 
symbol  was  called  the  flower  of  Louis,  and  spelled  in  English, 
flower  of  Luce.  In  the  English  mind  fleur-de-lys  and  fleur-de- 
Luce  was  not  far  from  flower  of  lice  or  flower  of  louse, 
respectively. 

It  has  been  said  that  Sir  William  Wise  was  knighted  for  his 
wit  as  a  result  of  his  ready  retort  to  the  "byting  taunt"  of  Henry 
\'III.  The  writer  believes  this  assertion  to  be  erroneous.  He 
mav  have  been  knighted  for  his  wit,  but  the  word  wit  should 
be  taken  in  the  sense  of  good  judgment,  and  intelligent  action, 
rather  than  in  its  sense  of  humor,  for,  in  addition  to  his  pun, 
Sir  William  A\'ise  is  known  to  have  performed  certain  clever 
feats  at  the  Battle  of  the  Spurs  and  was  really  knighted  for 
gallantry. 

The  value  of  the  anecdote  is  that  it  show^s  that  the  Wises 
had  arms  with  ermine  in  them  in  1513.  Exactly  what  those  arms 
were  at  the  time  is  not  known.  It  is  known  that  their  ancient 
crest,  granted  to  them  in  1400  A.  D.,  was  "A  mermaid  proper." 

The  arms,  crest,  and  motto  now  in  use  were  granted  John 
Wise  of  "Sydenham,"  temp.,  by  James  I.,  and  were  recorded  by 
Sir  Henry  St.  George  in  his  visitation  of  Devonshire,  1620,  Ford 
House  and  Tytnes  ("Totness").  Devonshire;  Clayton  Hall. 
Staffordshire,  etc.  (See  "Wise  Arms  and  Pedigree."  E.  Thom- 
son Sutton.) 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  21 

The  arms  are: 

Arms  :   Sable,  three  chevronels  ermine. 

Crest  :  A  demi-Hon  rampant  gules,  guttee  argent,  holding 

in  his  paws  a  regal  mace. 
Motto:   "Sapere  aude"  (Dare  to  be  wise). 

The  significance  of  the  three  chevronels  on  the  sable  shield 
has  ever  represented  the  fact  that  three  great  families  of  \\'ises 
rose  into  prominence  in  Devonshire,  these  heraldic  figures  stand- 
ing for  the  gables  of  three  roofs,  or  separate  houses,  from  the 
same  general  stock.  Whether  the  three  families  of  Wise 
were  those  of  Sir  John  W^ise  of  "Totness,"  Sir  Thomas  Wise 
of  "Mount  Wise"  and  "Sydenham,"  and  W^illiam  Wise  of 
"Cudleston,"  who  were  contemporaries  in  the  time  of  James  I., 
and  heads  of  the  three  branches  sprung  from  James  Wise  of 
"Sydenham"  (Henry  VHI.),  or  whether,  as  heretofore  sug- 
gested, the  three  families  were  the  ancient  branches  of  Oliver, 
Sir  John,  and  Henry,  who  were  sons  of  Serlonius  Wise  (1100- 
1200  A.  D.),  is  not  clear.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  three 
families  indicated  were  the  contemporary  branches  at  the  time 
the  arms  were  granted. 

\\t  have  seen  that  James  Wise  of  "Sydenham"  and  Alicia 
Dynham,  daughter  of  John  Dynham  of  \\'ortham.  had  four 
sons — John,  Sir  William.  Sir  Rychard.  and  George. 

The  descendants  of  Sir  William  Wise,  and  his  brother  George, 
are  not  known.  Rychard  Wise  became  Sir  Rychard  Wise  of 
"Cudleston,"  who  inserted  a  star  in  the  family  arms.  His  son 
was  John  Wise  of  "Cudleston."  Of  his  two  sons.  John  and 
William,  there  is  no  record  of  the  elder,  who  was  the  legal  heir 
and  namesake  of  his  father.  His  brother  \\'illiam  inherited  the 
estate  of  "Cudleston,"  and  it  is  possible  that  John  migrated  to 
America  in  1635.  (See  hereafter.)  The  descendants  of  WiUiam 
of  "Cudleston"  became  the  ^^'ises  of  "Gilsdon,"  who  died  out 
in  the  third  generation,  of  which  ^Matthew  Wise  of  "The 
Priory,"  Co.  Warwick,  who  died  in  1776,  Henry  \\'ise  of 
"Hampton  Court."  born  1706,  and  John  Wise  of  "Brompton." 
their  brother,  were  the  male  members. 

The  elder  brother  of  Sir  \\'illiam.  Sir  Rychard,  and  George — 
Tohn  \\'ise  of  "Sydenham" — married  Alicia,  daughter  of  John 


22  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Harris  of  Hayne,  Sergeant  at  Law,  and  had  issue :  John  Wise  of 
"Totness,"  Nicholas,  James,  Charles,  Erkenbold  or  Arkenold, 
Thomas  of  "Sydenham,"  and  five  daughters — Elizabeth,  Alice, 
Dorothy,  Mary,  and  Anne. 

John  Wise  of  "Totness,"  first  son  of  John  Wise  and  Alicia 
Harris,  married  Emmota,  daughter  of  Richard  Vavasour  of 
"Hazlewood,"  and  had  issue :  William  Wise  of  "Totness,"  born 
1560,  died  1626;  Samuel,  Christopher,  and  Henry.  William  of 
"Totness"  married  Friswida,  and  had  two  sons — John  Wise  of 
"Totness,"  who  died  September  6,  1670,  William,  of  whom 
nothing  is  known — and  three  daughters.  John  Wise  of  "Tot- 
ness" married  Susannah,  daughter  of  Samuel  Prestwood.  and 
his  son,  John  Wise  of  "Totness,"  by  his  second  wife,  Dorothy 
Brookings,  perpetuated  the  line  through  a  younger  son,  Samuel 
of  "Totness"  and  "Barnstaple,"  from  whom  was  descended  the 
late  Vice- Admiral  Wise,  of  the  British  Navy,  and  Maj.  Lewis 
Lovatt  Ayshford  Wise,  now  of  "Mayhurst,"  Maybury  Hill, 
Woking,  who  has  two  unmarried  daughters,  Elfrida,  born  in 
1875,  and  Elsa  Muriel,  born  in  1878.  With  the  death  of  Major 
Wise  will  cease  to  exist  the  name  of  Wise  in  England.  Such  is 
the  tragedy  of  a  name  that  has  been  honored  in  England  for  ten 
centuries. 

The  second  John  Wise  of  "Totness"  had,  as  we  have  seen, 
three  brothers — Samuel,  whose  descendants  are  known,  but 
whose  line  apparently  died  out  in  the  first  generation ;  Henry, 
who  died  in  1622;  and  Christopher.  Nothing  is  known  of  the 
last,  nor  of  his  nephews,  Nicholas  and  Christopher,  sons  of 
Samuel.  It  may  be  that  the  Nicholas  Wise  of  Lower  Norfolk 
County,  Virginia,  1660,  and  that  the  Christopher  Wise,  of  the 
Barbadoes,  in  1665.  are  thus  accounted  for. 

One  of  the  brothers  of  John  Wise  of  "Totness"  was  Thomas 
Wise  of  "Sydenham,"  who  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Richard 
Buller  of  "Shillingham,"  Co.  Cornwall.  Their  only  recorded 
son  was  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  K.  B.,  M.  P.,  of  "Sydenham"  and 
"Mount  Wise,"  w-ho  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert 
Stowford  of  Stowford,  Co.  Devon.  He  was  created  a  Knight  of 
the  Bath  at  the  coronation  of  James  I.,  was  High  Sherifif  of 
Devon   in    1612,   and    represented   Beeralston   in    Parliament   in 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  23 

1620.  He  built  for  his  residence  a  "fair  house"  at  Mount  Wise, 
on  one  of  the  beautiful  headlands  jutting  out  into  Plymouth  Bay, 
in  the  parish  of  Stoke  Damarel,  on  the  lands  which  had  come 
into  the  family  through  his  ancestress — Margaret  Britt.  Besides 
building  the  "beautious  Mount  Wise,"  he  also  built  "Sydenham 
House."     The  latter,  says  Westcote,  "is  the  seat  of  the  knightly 


SIR   THOMAS  WISE,    K.    B. 

and  dignious  family  of  Wise,  and  beautified  with  buildings  of 
such  height,  as  the  very  foundations  are  ready  to  reel  under  the 
burthen." 

"Sydenham  House,"  which  is  a  fine  example  of  the  domestic 
architecture  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  is  built  in  the  form 
of  the  letter  "E,"  a  compliment  often  paid  to  the  Queen  by 
builders  of  that  period.  It  lies  in  a  valley,  and  is  surrounded  by 
a  wall,  access  being  afforded  to  the  court  through  a  pair  of  very 


24  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

high  open-work  iron  gates.  Above  the  central  doorway,  within 
a  niche,  are  the  arms  of  Wise,  Sa.  three  chevronels,  Erm.  "It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  the  gable  to  the  right  of  the  entrance," 
says  Worthy,  "has  been  despoiled  of  its  transom  windows,  for 
which  common  modern  sashes  have  been  substituted ;  those  re- 
maining prove  that  the  original  windows  must  have  been  very 
large  and  handsome. 

"The  hall  bears  the  date  1658,  when  the  house  was  repaired 
in  consequence  of  the  injuries  it  had  received  during  the  Civil 
War,  when,  having  been  garrisoned  for  the  King,  it  was  taken 
after  a  siege  by  Parliamentary  forces  under  Colonel  Holbourne, 
in  January,  1645.  One  gable  of  the  building  is  in  a  very  ruinous 
condition  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  it  was  never  finished ; 
but  this  is  improbable  and  I  imagine  that  the  family  having 
suffered  so  much  in  the  late  troubles  could  not  afford  to  restore 
the  whole  house  to  its  original  condition,  and  that  the  dilapidated 
state  of  this  portion  of  the  structure  is  probably  due  to  the  storm 
it  experienced  in  behalf  of  royalty.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  oak 
panelling  in  the  various  rooms,  and,  in  one  of  them,  the  wainscot 
conceals  a  flight  of  winding  stairs  constructed  in  the  thickness 
of  the  wall,  and  leading  to  the  top  of  the  house,  being  also 
secretly  connected  with  other  chambers.  In  this  old  mansion  is 
a  quantity  of  ancient  furniture,  and  a  large  number  of  family 
pictures  remain  on  its  walls."  ("Devonshire  Parishes,"  Charles 
Worthy,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  173,  174.) 

Among  the  portraits  referred  to  are  those  of  the  nine  daughters 
of  the  second  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  including  Mary,  who  married 
Sir  Samuel  Rolle,  and  their  mother,  Margaret,  daughter  of  Ed- 
ward, Viscount  Chichester  of  Carrickfergus,  and  her  daughter- 
in-law,  Arabella,  wife  of  Sir  Edward  Wise.  A  photographic 
copy  of  the  portrait  of  the  second  Sir  Thomas  Wise  is  among  the 
papers  of  the  late  John  Sergeant  Wise  of  \'irginia  and  New 
York,  and  shows  him  to  ha\'e  been  a  strikingly  handsome  man. 

The  first  Sir  Tliomas  Wise  died  in  1629.  His  son.  Sir  Thomas 
^^'ise  of  "Sydenham"  and  "Mount  Wise,"  married  Lady  Mary, 
daughter  of  Edward,  Viscount  Chichester.  Earl  of  Donegal. 

The  members  of  the  family  of  Wise  were  devoted  adherents 
to  the  royal  cause  during  the  great  rel)clli<)n.  and  suffered  much 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  25 

for  their  loyalty  by  fine,  sequestration,  and  imprisonment.  But 
although  the  elections  of  1640  ran  in  favor  of  the  popular  party, 
the  second  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  who  was  Sheriff  of  Devon  in 
1638-9,  retained  sufficient  influence  to  be  returned  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  his  county  in  the  memorable  Long  Parliament. 

His  son  was  Sir  Edward  Wise,  who  was  born  in  1632,  and 
died  in  1695.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Oakhampton  Convention 
Parliament,  and  was  created  a  Knight  of  the  Bath  in  1661.  In 
1651  he  married  Arabella,  daughter  of  Oliver  St.  John,  eldest 
son  of  the  Earl  of  Bolinbroke.  In  1667  he  sold  ''Mount  Wise" 
to  Sir  William  Morice,  and  died  in  1673.  Sir  Edward  Wise  had 
two  sons,  St.  John  and  Thomas,  who  died  without  issue,  and 
thus  ended  the  "Sydenham"  branch  of  the  family  about  the  same 
time  that  the  "Cudleston"  branch  died  out,  leaving  only  the 
"Totness"  branch,  of  which  we  have  seen  there  is  but  one  male 
survivor. 

"Sydenham"  passed  to  Edmund  Tremayne  of  Collacombe, 
who  married  Arabella  Wise,  sister  of  the  said  St.  John  and 
Thomas,  and  from  him  back  to  the  "Totness"  branch  of  the 
Wises. 

We  now  return  to  Nicholas,  James,  Charles,  and  Erkenbold  or 
Arkenold  Wise,  sons  of  John  Wise  and  Alicia  Harris,  and 
brothers  of  John  Wise  of  "Totness,"  and  Thomas  Wise  of 
"Sydenham,"  whose  lines  we  have  traced.  As  in  the  case  of 
their  uncles,  George  Wise  and  Sir  William  Wise,  no  record  of 
their  descendants  exists,  and  the  various  emigrants  to  xA.merica 
may  have  been  their  grandsons.  A  Nicholas  Wise  appeared  in 
Lower  Norfolk  County,  Virginia,  about  1660,  a  Joseph  Wise  in 
Massachusetts,  and  an  Abraham  and  Christopher  Wise  in  the 
Barbadoes  about  the  same  time,  and  John  Wise  in  Virginia  in 
1635.  It  would  seem  that  the  political  disturbances  in  England, 
in  which  the  Wises  were  deeply  involved,  had  something  to  do 
with  the  migration  of  the  younger  sons. 

In  concluding  this  sketch  of  the  Wise  family  in  England,  it  is 
proper  to  refer  to  the  Irish  family  of  Wyse,  which  uses  the  same 
arms  as  the  Devon  family  of  Wise. 

Sir  Thomas  Wyse,  K.  C.  B.,  M.  P.,  of  \\'aterford,  Ireland, 
who  was  British  Minister  to  Athens,  and  a  prominent  Catholic 


26  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

leader,  married  Letitia,  the  daughter  of  Lucien  Bonaparte.  She 
was  born  December  1.  1804.  She  was  soon  separated  from  her 
husband,  but  left  a  son,  Lucien  Napoleon  Bonaparte  Wyse,  and  a 
daughter,  Maria  Bonaparte  Wyse.  Lucien  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
Wise  of  the  French  Navy  was  a  celebrated  engineer,  and  the 
principal  assistant  of  de  Lessups  in  the  Panama  Canal  operations 
of  the  French.  From  him  was  descended  Colonel  Wyse,  U.  S. 
Army,  whose  daughter  is  now  the  wife  of  Admiral  Benson, 
Chief  of  Operations.  V.  S.  Navy.  The  American  Wyses  also  use 
the  same  arms  as  the  Wises  of  Devon,  but  surmounted  with  the 
French  Imperial  Crest. 

Maria  Bonaparte  Wyse,  w'hose  salon  was  celebrated  during  the 
second  Empire,  married  :  First,  Prince  de  Salms  ;  second,  L^rbain 
Rattazzi,  the  Italian  statesman;  and,  third,  Senor  de  Ruto,  a 
Spaniard.  Frederick  Harrison,  in  his  delightful  memoirs,  refers 
to  her  as  a  "most  remarkable  woman."  and  that  indeed  she  was. 

For  authorities  as  to  the  W^ise  family  of  England  see : 
Burke's  "Landed  Gentry,"  Vol.  II. 
"Devonshire  Parishes,"  Charles  Worthy,  Vol.  I. 
"Wise  Arms  and  Pedigree,"  E.  Thomson  Sutton. 
Family  Parchment  Rolls  in  possession  of  ]\Iaj.  Lewis  Lovatt 
Ay sh ford  Wise. 

Documents  in  College  of  Heralds. 

Also  see:    "The  Napoleon  Dynasty"  by  The  Berkeley  Men. 


"Gresion," 


4.  Sir  Rychard  Wise, 
of  "Cudleston."' 


John  Wise, 

of  "Cudleston." 


I 

,  I 

fjohn  Wise. 


iy  Mary, 
1.  Edward, 
''iscount  Chichester, 
arl  of  Donegal. 


William  Wise, 
of  "Cudleston." 


Richard  Wise, 
of  "Gilsdon.' 


Henry  Wise, 
of  "Brompton; 


CHART  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF  WISE  OF  DEVONSHIRE 


Oliver  Wise,  or  Gevviss,  or  Gwiss.  of  "Greston."  (Prior  to  1066  A.  D.) 


William  Wise. 
Serlonius  Wise. 


of  "Grestoi 
of  "Gresto 


I.  Oliver  Wise,  of  "Greston' 


3.  Henry  Wise,  of  "Greston.' 


Sir  William  Wise  ^=  Ela  De  Viponte. 
(1200-1225) 


Serlonius  Wise,  of  "Thrushelton." 
Sir  Thomas  Wise  =  Allreda  Trevage 


I 
2.  Sir  John  Wise,  of  "Greston.' 


John  Wise,  of  "Sydenham" 

Thomas  Wise,  of  "Sydenham" 

John  Wise,  of  "Sydenham" 

Oliver  Wise,  of  "Sydenham" 


Joane,  d.  John  Millaton,  of  "Meavy." 
Margaret,  d.   Robert  Britt,  of  "Slottiscnmhe." 
Thomazine.  d.  Sir  Baldwin  Fulford,  of  "Great  P'liiford." 
Margaret,  d.  John  Tremayne,  of  "Collacombe  " 
John  Wise,  of  "Sydenham"  =  Mary,  d.  James  Chudleigh,  of  "Ashton." 
James  Wise,  of  "Sydenham"  =  Alicia,  d.  John  Dynham,  of  "Wortham." 
James  Wise,  of  "Sydenham"  ^=  Alicia,  d.  John  Dynhanm,  of  "Wortham." 


I 
3    George 


1.  John  Wise,        =  Alicia,  d.  John  Harris,  of  "Hayne.' 
of  Sergt.  at  Law,  Henry  VIII. 

"Sydenham." 


I 
2.  Sir  William  Wise. 


4.  Sir  Rychard  Wise, 
of  "Cudleston." 


I     I     I     I 

Nicholas. 

James. 

Charles. 

Erkenbold. 


5.  John  Wise, 
of 
"Totness.' 


Emmota. 

d.  Richard  Vavasour 
of  "Hazlewood." 


Thcnias  Wise.    =  Marv. 
of  d.  Richard  BuUer, 

"Svdenham."  of  "Shillingham."  Cornwall. 


I     I     I     I 
7    Elizabeth 

8.  Alice. 

9.  Dorothy. 

10.  Mary. 

11.  .^nne. 


John  Wise, 
of  "Cudleston." 


1    William  Wise, 
of  "Totness." 
b.  1560,  d.  1626. 


2.  Samuel  Wise.    ^=  Wilmota. 
d.  Nov..  1633. 


I     I 

3.  Henry,  d.  1622. 

4.  *Christopher. 


Sir  Thomas  Wise,  K.  B.. 

of  "Svdenham"  and  "Mt.  Wise,' 
d.  1629. 


Margaret,  d. 
Robert  Stowford, 
of  "Stowford." 


tjohn  Wise. 


William  Wise, 
of  "Cudleston.' 


1.  John  Wise, 

of  "Totness," 
d.  Sept.  6,  1676. 


— ■  Susannah,  d. 

Thos.  Prestwood. 
d.  July  5,  1654. 


I      I      I      I 

!.  William. 
5.  .Anna. 
1    Elizabpth. 
j.  Catherine. 


Samuel  Wise  ^  Susan  Brookinge.     2.  Christopher  Wise.  3   tMcholas  Wis 

(No  issue.)  Will  dated  Jan..   1691, 


I     I     I     I 

4.  Friedfrida. 

5.  Elizabeth. 

6.  Rebecca. 

7.  Sarah. 


Sir  Thomas  Wise.   =  Lady  Mary, 
of  d.  Edward. 

"Sydenham"  and  Viscount  Chichester, 

"Mt.  Wise."  Earl  of  Donegal. 


Richard  Wise, 
of  "Gilsdon.' 


•Probablv  the  Immigrant  nf  Barbadoi 
tPosslbl.v"  the  original  settler  in  Lr- 
iBeiieved  to  be  the  Accomack  Imn 


in  1665. 
Norfolk  f'ount.v 
Igrant  of  1635. 


Henry  Wise, 
of  "Brompton.' 


CHAPTER  II. 
Col.  John  Wise,  the  Immigrant. 


scarburgh,  littleton,  and  southey  families,  and 
Unrelated  Families  of  Wise  in  America. 


The  parentage  of  the  immigrant  John  Wise  is  unknown,  but, 
with  the  many  ckies  which  the  ancient  records  of  the  family  of 
Wise  in  England  afford,  and  those  to  be  found  in  the  court 
records  of  England  and  Accomack  County,  Virginia,  it  would 
seem  to  be  but  a  matter  of  trouble  and  expense  to  establish  the 
connection  of  the  English  and  American  branches  of  the  family 
with  exactitude. 

It  seems  fairly  certain  that  the  immigrant  was  of  the  Devon- 
shire family  of  Wise.  The  late  Governor  Henry  A.  Wise  wrote, 
in  his  "Seven  Decades  of  the  Union."  that  he  was  descended 
from  Sir  William  W^ise,  and  that  the  Wises  were  from  the  North 
of  England.  He  was  obviously  mistaken  as  to  the  locality  where 
the  familv  was  seated.  While  using  the  motto  of  the  Devon 
family — "Sapcre  mide" — he  took  the  head  of  Minerva  for  a 
family  crest — the  head  of  the  Goddess  of  Wisdom  being  appro- 
priate to  the  family  name  of  Wise. 

It  is  thought  by  some  that  the  AIiner^'a  head  was  first  employed 
by  Governor  Wise's  father — Maj.  John  Wise — about  the  time 
of  the  Revolution,  when  (;ld  family  ties  with  the  mother  country 
were  roughly  severed.  If  Major  ^^^ise  had  a  right  to  use  the 
ancient  arms  and  crest,  he  had  a  right  under  the  laws  of  heraldry, 
as  a  younger  son,  to  adopt  a  distinctive  crest.  None  but  his  own 
direct  descendants  may  properly  use  this  new  crest,  however,  and 
even  they  may  discard  it  in  favor  of  the  old,  which  has  generally 
been  done. 

W'hile  it  is  not  necessary  to  establish  the  lineage  of  the  immi- 
grant—John Wise  of  Accawmacke — consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject is  interesting.  His  own  record  is  such,  and  the  legal  records 
of  his  descendants  are  so  perfectly  well  established  for  three  cen- 
turies, that  the  latter  may  say  of  him,  as  Junot  said  of  himself, 
that  he  was  his  own  ancestor. 

In  the  Home  Office,  London,  is  recorded  a  petition  of  one 
William  Hudson  to  the  Commissioners  for  the  Admiralty  and 
Navy,  dated  1634,  for  the  release  of  John  Wise,  his  kinsman, 
from  a  ship  called  the  John  and  Catherine,  John  Miller,  Master, 
bound  for  the  Barbadoes.     This  petition  recites  that  John  Wise 


30  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

"coming  to  town,  being  a  country  lad,  was  deceived  and  most 
violently  brought  on  board."  and  that  "he  being  forced  aboard 
against  his  will  it  will  not  be  only  the  heartbreaking  of  his 
parents,  but  utter  ruin  for  the  lad,  who  was  sent  to  town  for 
better  fortune." 

How  much  of  this  petition  is  legal  x'erbiage,  and  how  much  an 
accurate  statement  of  fact  is  unknown.  It  undoubtedly  set  forth 
the  best  plea  possible,  and,  therefore,  the  boy  actually  may  not 
have  been  forced  upon  the  ship,  but  may  have  entered  into  a 
contract  of  labor  for  his  passage,  which  was  a  common  practice. 
At  any  rate,  there  was  some  reason  why  it  was  necessary  to 
invoke  the  aid  of  a  court  to  release  him.  But  without  regard  to 
this  point,  the  petition  would  seem  to  establish  several  facts, 
to-wit :  that  the  John  Wise  referred  to  therein  did  not  sail  for 
Barbadoes  in  1634,  that  his  home  was  in  the  country,  that  his 
parents  were  living,  that  he  was  not  heir  to  any  large  estate,  and 
that  he  was  sent  to  town  by  his  parents  in  order  that  he  might 
better  his  fortune,  and  that  he  was  in  the  ship  without  the  ap- 
proval of  his  parents,  whether  voluntarily  or  by  duress. 

Furthermore,  we  know  that  he  did  not  sail  on  the  John  and 
Catherine  for  the  Barbadoes,  for  he  and  the  same  William  Hud- 
son were  later  booked  to  sail  for  America  on  the  merchant  ship 
Bonaventure,  James  Roccost,  Master,  January  2,  1634,  and,  fail- 
ing to  cross  on  this  vessel,  took  passage  for  Virginia  from 
Gravesend,  July  4,  1635,  on  the  ship  Transport,  appearing  as 
William  Hudson,  age  twenty,  and  John  Wise,  age  eighteen.  The 
names  of  both  soon  appeared  in  the  records  of  the  Shire  of 
Accawmacke,  Virginia,  where  John  Wise  married  Hannah,  the 
daughter  of  Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh  and  his  wife,  Hannah 
Butler.  There  is  on  file,  at  Eastville,  a  bill  of  sale  dated  1637 
from  Hannah  Butler  Scarburgh,  the  widow  of  Capt.  Edmund 
Scarburgh,  for  a  piebald  heifer,  to  which  bill  of  sale  her  "sons," 
Edmund  Scarburgh  and  John  Wise,  subscribed  as  witnesses. 

Hotten  mentions  two  other  Wises  who  were  immigrants,  a 
Jo.  Wise,  age  eighteen  or  twenty-eight  (the  record  is  indis- 
tinct), and  a  John  Wise,  age  thirty-two,  both  of  whom  sailed 
in  January,  1636,  on  the  ship  Bonaventure  to  New  England. 
There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  Jo.  Wise  above  was  the  Josepli 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  31 

A\'ise  who  appeared  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  soon  after  1636.  He  is 
stated  in  the  records  to  ha\-e  been  a  "serving  man"  in  his  younger 
days,  which  simply  meant  that  he  was  under  a  contractual  obliga- 
tion with  the  person  who  bore  the  cost  of  his  transportation  to 
the  Colony  of  Massachusetts,  to  pay  for  his  passage  in  personal 
labor. 

What  became  of  John  \\'ise.  the  companion  of  Joseph,  is  not 
known.  Joseph  had  a  son  named  John,  who  was  born  in  Roxbury 
in  1652.  and  became  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  Colony  of 
Massachusetts.  The  fact  that  Joseph  named  his  son  John  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  the  father  of  Joseph  might  have  been  John, 
and  that  there  was  some  relation  between  John  of  Virginia  and 
John  of  Accomack.  They  were  in  all  probability  of  the  same 
family.  We  shall  consider  John  Wise  of  Massachusetts  here- 
after. 

The  late  John  Sergeant  \\'ise  devoted  more  time  to  the  study 
of  his  family  than  any  of  his  kin,  and  gave  the  matter  of  the 
parentage  of  the  \^irginia  immigrant  much  thought,  \\niile  in 
England  he  studied  such  family  records  as  might  throw  light 
upon  the  problem.  In  his  researches  he  was  assisted  by  Alaj. 
Lewis  Lovatt  Ayshford  Wise,  M.  P..  now  (1916)  resident  in 
^^'oking,  England.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  Major 
A\'ise  to  John  Sergeant  AMse,  written  before  the  latter  visited 
him  in  1893.  is  interesting: 

Extract  from  letter  dated  April  27.  1884.  from  Maj.  Lewis 
Lovatt  Ayshford  Wise: 

'T  think,  considering  what  you  tell  me  of  your  family  and 
forefathers,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  we  are  descended  from 
the  same  stock.  I  have  drawn  out  for  you  a  portion  of  our 
family  pedigree  commencing  about  four  generations  before  the 
date  you  mention.  I  have  shown  the  direct  line  in  red  ink — 
that  is.  the  eldest,  or  eldest  surviving  son.  who  has  carried  on  the 
line.  You  will  see  that  John  Wise  of  Sydenham  and  Alicia 
Harris,  about  the  time  of  Henry  VIII..  had  six  sons.  The  eldest, 
Thomas,  inherited  all  or  most  of  the  family  property  in  Devon 
and  Cornwall,  and  four  generations  afterwards  this  all  passed 
away  to  the  Treinayncs  with  the  heiress.  Arabella  Wise,  whose 
Hi'o  brothers  died  without  issue.  This  line,  therefore,  became 
extinct  so  far  as  the  JJ'iscs  were  concerned,  though  part  of  Ara- 


32  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

bella  Wise's  property,  Mount  Wise  at  Plymouth,  still  is  so  called 
and  will  be  so  called  as  long  as  England  exists.  We  are,  there- 
fore, descended  from  the  second  son  of  John  Wise  and  Alicia 
Harris,  viz.,  John  Wise  of  Totness.  It  would  appear  that  your 
ancestor,  John  Wise,  was  born  1616.  He  would,  therefore, 
probably  belong  to  the  generation  of  John  Wise  and  Susanna 
Prestwood.  This  man  had  but  one  brother,  William,  and  three 
sisters — so  your  John  Wise  did  not  belong  to  this  branch. 
Neither  was  he  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Wilmota  Blackwell,  but 
for  all  I  know  he  might  have  been  a  son  of  Samuel's  brother, 
Christopher.  In  the  branch  that  terminates  with  Arabella  the 
only  son  was  Thomas.  In  the  same  generation  there  is  another 
branch,  who  settled  eventually  [and  are  now]  in  Warwickshire, 
one  Richard  Wise  of  Gilsdon,  who  may  have  had  brothers. 
Again,  there  is  George  Wise,  brother  of  John  of  Sydenham,  and 
his  nephews,  Nicholas,  James,  Charles  and  Erkenbold.  From 
any  of  these  your  ancestor  may  have  been  descended.  So  far 
as  I  can  judge  your  ancestor,  John  Wise,  was  probably  either 
a  son  of  Christopher  Wise,  son  of  John  and  Emmota,  or  son  of 
William  Wise  of  Cudleston,  or  a  great-grandson  of  George  Wise, 
or  grandson  of  Nicholas,  James,  Charles,  or  Erkenbold. 

"It  will  be  no  doubt  very  difficult  to  trace,  especially  if 
descended  from  George  or  his  nephews,  but  it  will  be  interesting 
to  me,  and  if  you  wish  it  I  will  try  and  do  it.  I  have  the  whole 
pedigree  here  up  to  and  before  the  Norman  Conquest,  but.  as 
you  see,  the  families  of  younger  sons  are  not  followed  up.  etc." 

The  writer  shall  here  let  John  Sergeant  \\'ise  give  his  own 
conclusions,  based  on  a  full  examination  of  the  family  records 
in  England : 

"In  1893.  I  inspected  the  family  parchment  rolls  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Maj.  Lewis  Lovatt  Ayshford  Wise,  then  living  at  Watts 
House,  Bishop  Lydeard,  Taunton.  Somersetshire,  now  residing  in 
Wapping.  Kent.  .  .  .  From  those  records,  it  appeared  that 
Rychard  Wise,  younger  brother  of  James,  and  his  descendants, 
were  known  as  the  Wises  of  Cudleston,  and  added  a  star  in  the 
corner  of  their  shield,  as  the  distinguishing  mark  of  that  branch 
of  the  family.  Rychard  W'ise  of  Cudleston  was  the  younger 
brother  of  John  W'ise  of  Sydenham,  and  of  Sir  William  Wise, 
who  was  knighted  in  the  Battle  of  the  Spurs. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  33 

''Rychard  Wise  of  Cudleston  had  a  son.  John  Wise  of 
Cudleston.  who  had  two  sons,  John  Wise  and  WilHam  Wise. 
The  hne  of  WilHam  Wise  is  carried  on  upon  the  chart,  but  that 
of  John,  the  elder  son,  is  not  carried  on.  He  lived  at  the  very 
date  at  which  our  John  came  to  America,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
whatever  he  was  the  same  individual. 

"William  Wise's  son,  Richard  Wise  of  Gilsdon,  was  born  in 
1647,  when  our  John,  his  father's  elder  brother,  was  thirty  years 
old.  I  have  no  doubt  that  by  applying  to  the  proper  court  in 
England  for  the  will  of  Rychard  Wise  of  Cudleston,  and  John 
Wise  of  Cudleston,  we  could  identify  our  ancestor  as  the  oldest 
son  of  John  Wise  of  Cudleston,  brother  of  William  Wise,  and 
uncle  of  Richard,  born  1647,  and  relative  of  William  Hudson, 
his  companion.  The  will  of  our  John  Wise  speaks  of  his 
propertv  in  England.  .  .  .  Families  in  England  seem  to 
have  regarded  the  sons  who  went  to  America  as  swallowed  up  in 
a  wilderness,  and  dropped  them  from  their  rolls." 

This  deduction  is  most  plausible.  The  deatli  of  John,  the  elder 
son  and  heir  of  John  Wise  of  "Cudleston,"  is  not  recorded.  Why 
did  he  not  inherit  his  father's  estate?  And  yet  the  emigrant 
may  have  been  the  grandson  of  James,  Charles,  or  Erkenbold 
Wise,  sons  of  John  Wise  of  "Sydenham,"  and  Alice  Harris  of 
Hayne,  who  were  the  brothers  of  Thomas  and  John  Wise,  whose 
descendants  are  clearly  recorded.  (See  "Devonshire  Parishes," 
Charles  Worthy,  Vol.  I.,  p.  178,  and  supra.  Chapter  I. )  It  might 
be  argued  that  it  is  more  likely  that  the  son  of  a  younger  son 
was  permitted  to  migrate  to  Virginia,  than  that  the  infant 
heir  and  namesake  of  the  heir  of  a  nobleman  should  have  been 
allowed  to  venture  forth,  accompanied  only  by  a  young  kinsman, 
to  a  distant  and  almost  unknown  colony,  to  seek  his  fortune, 
when  an  inheritance  awaited  him  at  home.  The  circumstance 
of  his  tender  age  may  be  taken  to  indicate  that  the  emigrant 
was  not  the  namesake  and  heir  of  his  father,  which  in  turn 
precludes  the  probability  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  John  Wise. 
The  emigrant  was  born  in  1617.  He  was  then  of  the  same 
generation  as  Thomas  Wise,  M.  P.,  1646,  High  Sheriff  of  Devon 
in  1638,  who  was  the  son  of  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  K.  B.,  M.  P.,  and 
Margaret  Stowford,  and  if  he  was  the  grandson  of  James, 
Charles,  or  Erkenbold  Wise,  he  was  a  first  cousin  of  Sir  Thomas 
Wise  of  "Mount  Wise"  and  "Sydenham." 


34  Col.  JOHX  WISE 

The  known  facts  indicate  that  John  \\'ise,  the  emigrant,  was  a 
gentleman,  for  he  married  a  lady,  Hannah,  the  daughter  of 
Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh,  from  Norfolk,  England,  and  there  is 
some  evidence  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  Scarburghs  before 
their  emigration.  (It  has  been  stated  erroneously  a  number  of 
times  that  John  Wise  married  the  daughter  of  Col.  Edmund 
Scarburgh. ) 

It  is  possible  that  Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh  came  to  Virginia 
by  way  of  New  England.  The  name  Scarburgh  in  one  form  or 
another  appears  in  Massachusetts  at  an  early  date,  and  a  town 
was  founded  there  of  that  name. 

Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh  settled  on  lands  lying  along  Alagothy 
Bay,  in  Accomack,  probably  about  1628.  His  holding  was 
patented  by  his  son  Edmund,  May  18,  1637,  when  200  acres 
were  granted  the  latter.  "Due :  50  acres  for  the  personal  ad- 
venture of  his  late  father,  Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh,  and  50  for 
the  personal  adventure  of  his  mother,  Hannah  Scarburgh,  50  for 
his  own  personal  adventure,  and  50  for  the  transportation  of 
'a  servant,  Robert  Butler."  (Abstracts  from  Virginia  Land 
Patents,  published  in  Va.  Mag.  Hist.  &  Biog. ) 

It  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Robert  Butler  men- 
tioned in  the  foregoing  patent  was  the  father  of  Captain  Scar- 
burgh's  wife.  The  fact  that  he  is  mentioned  as  a  servant  is  by 
no  means  conclusive  that  he  was  a  menial.  Emigrants  that  bound 
themselves  by  a  contract  with  another  under  which  their  passage 
was  secured  were  frequently  rated  in  the  shipping  registers  as 
servants  or  bondsmen. 

Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh  was  the  first  Imrgess  from  the 
"Eastern  Shore,"  or  the  peninsula  of  Accomack,  which  was  not 
a  county  until  1632,  representing  his  section  of  the  colony  in  the 
General  Assembly  of  1629.  He  was  also  a  burgess  in  1631  and 
1632.  (Hening,  I.,  pp.  137-9.)  When  the  corporation  of  Ac- 
comack was  created  as  one  of  the  eight  original  shires,  Captain 
Scarburgh  w-as  appointed  justice  or  commissioner  of  the  Ac- 
comack Court,  and  sat  as  such  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  court 
on  January  7,  1632.     He  died  in  1635. 

His  elder  son.  Sir  Charles  Scarburgh.  born  1615,  died  1693, 
was  baptized  in  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields,  December  29,  1615. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  35 

He  was  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  author  of  a  celebrated  treatise  on 
Calculus,  several  works  on  anatomy,  a  member  of  Parliament, 
knighted  in  1669,  and  successively  Court  Physician  to  Charles  11., 
James  H..  and  King  William.  The  poet  Cowley  addressed  a 
poem  to  him.  His  portrait,  showing  him  lecturing  on  anatomy, 
is  included  in  this  work. 

For  the  following  notes  on  the  family  of  Scarburgh  the  author 
is  indebted  to  James  Dunlop  \\'ise,  Esq. : 

Notes  ox  the  Scarburgh  Family. 

Skarborowgh,  Hexrv.  Son  of  Henry  S.  Born  at  N.  W'al- 
sham,  Co.  Norfolk:  baptized  there,  Sept.  21,  1565.  At  school 
there  and  in  Norwich.  Admitted  to  Caius  College,  Nov.  3,  1581. 
Of  N.  Walsham,  Esq.  Married  Mary,  daughter  of  John 
Humberstone,  of  Loddon,  Co.  Norfolk,  Esq.  Died  Aug.  24. 
1617.  Buried  at  N.  Walsham — monument  in  the  church  there. 
Will  proved  (Norwich)  1617.  Pedigree  in  the  'A^isitation  of 
Norfolk,"  1664  (unpublished). 

ScARBURGE.  Edmuxd.  Son  of  Henry  S.  Born  at  N.  Wal- 
sham:  baptized  there,  Dec.  25,  1584.  School,  Norwich.  Ad- 
mitted to  Caius  College.  April  15,  1602.  ^Married  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Robert  Butler.  Lived  for  a  time  in  St.  ]\Iartin's- 
in-the-Fields  parish,  London,  but  eventually  came  to  Virginia, 
settling  on  the  Eastern  Shore.  J.  P..  Accomack.  1631  ;  M.  H.  B. 
for  Accomack.  1629-30,  and  subsequent  years;  Commander  of 
the  Plantation  of  Accomack,  1631-32.  or  earlier.  Died  intestate 
between  April  18,  1634,  and  Jan.  9,  1635. 

Skarburge,  Hexry.  Son  of  Henry  S.,  attorney-at-law. 
Born  at  N.  Walsham:  baptized  there,  July  21,  1590.  School, 
N.  Walsham.  Admitted  to  Caius  College,  Oct.  9,  1606.  Died 
in  college;   buried  April  11.  1609. 

Scarburgh.  Samuel.  Son  of  Henry  S.  Born  at  N.  ^^'al- 
sham:  baptized  there,  Nov.  4,  1593.  School.  N.  Walsham. 
Admitted  to  Caius  College,  Nov.  3,  1610.  B.  A..  1614.  Ad- 
mitted at  Lincoln's  Inn.  1614.  Of  N.  Walsham.  Esq.  Died 
there.  April  20.  1655.     Monument  in  the  church. 


36  Col.  JOHX  WISE 

ScARBURGiT,  JoiiN.  Soii  of  Henry  S.,  gentleman.  Born  at 
N.  \\'alsham:  baptized  there.  May  7,  1598.  Admitted  to  Cains 
College,    1614.     B.   A.,   1617.     Admitted  at  Gray's  Inn.   1616. 

Of  N.  Walsham.  Esq.     Alarried  .  daughter  of  William 

King,  of  Hempstead,  Co.  Norfolk.     Monument  at  X.  Walsham. 

Scarborough,  Sir  Charles.  Son  of  Edmund  S.,  gentleman. 
Born  in  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields.  London :  baptized  there,  Dec. 
29,  1615.  School.  St.  Paul's.  Admitted  to  Caius  College,  March 
4.  1633.  B.  A..  1637:  M.  A..  1640.  M.  D.,  Merton  College, 
Oxford.  1646.  Fellow  of  Caius,  1642-49- — when  he  was  expelled 
by  Parliament  on  account  of  his  avowed  Royalist  sympathies. 
Physician  in  ordinary  to  Charles  II.,  James  II.,  and  William  III. 
An  original  F.  R.  S.  Knighted  Aug.  14,  1669.  M.  P. 'for  Camel- 
ford,  Cornwall,  1685-87.  Married  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Daniel,  of  Newberry,  Co.  Bedford.  Died  Feb.  26,  1694.  He 
was  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  anatomy,  "Syllabus  Musculorum." 
which  was  long  used  as  a  text-book  at  Cambridge.  His  son 
Edmund  published  in  1705  an  edition  of  his  father's  mathe- 
matical works ;  a  catalogue  of  his  mathematical  library  appeared 
in  1695.  For  further  information  see  Munk's  Roll;  A^enn's 
Biog.  Hi«t.  of  Caius  College;  Wood's  Ath.  Ox(Ml  ;  and  the 
Diet,  of  Nat.  Biography. 

ScARBURGH,  Charles.  Sou  of  Sir  Charles  S.  Born  in 
London.  School,  St.  Paul's.  Admitted  to  Caius  College,  Sept. 
10.  1669.  age  16.  M.  A..  1674.  by  royal  license.  LL.  D..  1681. 
D.  C.  L..  1702.  Admitted  at  the  Middle  Temple,  1670.  In  the 
service  of  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  consort  of  Queen  Anne, 
and  was  envov  from  him  to  his  nephew.  Frederick  IV..  on  the 
accession  of  the  latter  to  the  throne  of  Denmark. 

ScARBURGH.  Edmund.  Sou  of  Sir  Charles  S.  Born  in 
London.  School.  St.  Paul's.  Admitted  to  Caius  College,  Sept. 
23.  1677.  age  18.  M.  A..  1682,  by  royal  license.  Fellow  of 
Caius.  1682-88.  Elected  by  royal  mandate  prebendary  of  Salis- 
burv.  Rector  of  St.  Michael's,  Wareham.  1686;  rector  of 
Upway,  Dorset,  1687.     Died  1705. 

Col.  Edmund  Scarburgh,  the  second  son  of  the  immigrant,  was 
born  in  1617,  baptized  in  St.  Martin's,  October  2,  1617,  and  came 


Randall   Revell, 
of  Somerset,  Md. 


^est. 

Lancaster, 
me,  of  Accomack. 
:is,  of  Arlington, 
[ill,  of  Shirley, 
Co. 


SCHEMATIC  PEDIGREE  OF  THE  SCARBURGH  FAMILY 


Henry  Scarburgh,     :=- 
of  N.  Walsham.     I 


Henry   Scarburgh,  =  Mary.   d.   of   John    Humberstone. 

of  N.  Walsham,  Esq.,  I       of  Loddon,  co.  Norfolk,  Esq. 

b.  1565,  d.  Aug.  24,  1617.  | 


LoDiund  Scarb^.rgh.  =  lianuah,  d.   of 

of  Accomack,  Va..  Esq..  Robert   Butler, 

b.  1584,  d.  1635. 


Henry, 
b.   1590, 
d.   1609. 


if   X.  Walsham,  Esq.. 
I..  1593.  d.  Apr.  20,  1655. 


John. 

of   i\.   W'alshan 
b.  1598 


Esq.. 


,  d.  of  Wm.  King. 

.if   Hempstead,  co.   Norfolk. 


Sir   Charles   Scarburgh,      =  Mary,  d.  of  Thomas 
of  London.  |         Daniel,  of  Newberry, 

b.  1615,  d.  Feb,  26.  1694.  |         co.   Bedford. 


I  I  I 

Col.   Edmund.         =  Mary,  d.  of  Henry,  Hannah 

of  Accomack,        |       Col.  Nathaniel  Littleton,       of  London, 
b.   1617,  d.    1671.   1        of  Accomack. 


Col.  John  Wise,     Catherine  =  Randall   Revell, 
of  Clifton,  of  Somerset.  Md. 

.Accomack. 


I  I 

Charles  Scarburgh.      (The  Rev.)   Edmund, 
b    1653.  b.  1656.  d.  1705. 


(1) 


I 
llcnneft  Scarburgh. 


(3) 


I 
Col.  Charles  Scarburgh,  (1)  —  Elizabeth,  d.  of  Richard 
of  .Accomack,  Bennett,  Gov.  of  Va. 

d.  1702.  (2)  =  Ann.  d.  of  Anthony  West. 

(3)  =  Catherine,  d.  of  Anthony 
I       West  and  widow  of 
I       Ralph  Barlowe. 
(2)  I 


Henry. 


I 
Ann.    =  George  Parker, 
of  Onancock. 


I 

Mary, 


I  I 

Sarah.         Taljitha 


Edmund.     Littleton,     Henry. 


Edmund   Scarburgh. 


Matilda 
Tabitha 


=  Lt.-Col.  John  West. 

(1 )  "=  John  Smart,  of  Lancaster. 

(2)  ^  Devereux  Browne,  of  .Accomack. 

(3)  =  Gen.  John  Custis,  of  .Arlington. 

(4)  =  Col.  Edward  Hill,  of  Shirley. 

Charles  Citv  Co. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  Z7 

to  Virginia  with  his  father.  Known  as  "Conjurer"  Scarburgh  by 
the  Indians,  he  was  certainly  the  foremost  man  of  the  Eastern 
Shore,  and,  without  doubt,  in  many  respects,  the  most  virile  and 
active  man  in  the  entire  Colony  during  his  day.  His  influence 
seems  to  have  been  unbounded,  and  even  Governor  Berkeley  and 


SIR   CHARLES   SCARBOROUGH,    R.   S. 

che  General  Assembly  failed  on  several  occasions  in  attempts  to 
discipline  him  for  various  high-handed  transactions.  Nor  was 
Governor  Bennett,  whose  daughter  married  his  son,  able  to  gain 
control  over  him  or  punish  him  for  his  rebellious  and  seditious 
conduct  against  the  Cromwellian  Government.  He  has  e\'en  been 
credited  with  the  authorship  of  the  Northampton  Resolutions  of 
1649  declaring  Charles  II.  the  rightful  successor  of  his  father: 
with  the  instigation  of  the  Northampton  Protest  in  1651.  which 


38  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

declared  "Taxation  without  Representation"  to  be  tyranny;  and 
witli  organizing  the  revok  against  Parhament  which  occurred  in 
Northampton  in  1652.  He  was  a  personal  friend  of  Gov.  Peter 
Stuyvesant  of  New  Netherlands,  and  owned  a  large  number 
of  trading  vessels,  as  many  as  nine  at  one  time,  which  plied 
between  New  England,  New  Amsterdam,  the  West  Indies,  and 
Accomack.  On  one  occasion  he  waged  war  on  his  private  account 
against  the  Dutch  on  the  Delaware  River.  He  owned  many 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  Accomack  and  Maryland,  and  was  the 
largest  individual  landholder  in  the  Colony  at  one  time.  He  was 
granted  an  absolute  monopoly  for  the  manufacture  of  salt  in 
Virginia,  and  erected  an  extensive  plant  for  the  purpose  on  Smith 
Island.  He  was  a  Burgess  in  1642,  1644,  1645,  1647,  1652, 
1659,  and  from  1660  to  1671.  In  1645  he  was  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  in  1648  he  was  appointed  collector  of  the  revenues 
for  Northampton,  and  Sheriff  in  1660  and  1661.  In  1655  he  was 
appointed  Surveyor-General  of  the  Colony  of  Virginia  and  held 
this  office  until  his  death. 

In  1651  he  led  an  unauthorized  punitive  expedition  against  the 
Indians,  and  a  futile  effort  was  made  by  the  Assembly  to  punish 
him  for  this.  In  1652  he  assailed  and  captured  a  Boston  mer- 
chant vessel  in  the  Potomac  River,  which  he  claimed  was  a  Dutch 
privateer  because  it  was  commanded  by  a  German  mariner! 
Ae^ain,  he  was  accused  bv  the  General  Assemblv  of  selling  arms 
to  the  Indians,  and  the  Governor  was  sent  to  the  peninsula  to 
prosecute  him  for  this  and  his  part  in  the  Royalist  revolt  of  1652. 
He  escaped  punishment,  however,  by  fleeing  the  jurisdiction  of 
Virginia,  remaining  with  Governor  Stuyvesant  in  New  Amster- 
dam, and  in  Boston,  until  home  influences  made  it  safe  for  him 
to  return.  While  in  New-  Amsterdam  he  succeeded  in  negotiating 
a  secret  treaty  between  the  New  Netherlanders  and  the  Acco- 
mackians,  under  which  the  tobacco  trade  was  resumed  between 
them  in  spite  of  the  hostile  relations  existing  between  Holland 
and  England.  March  26.  1655.  the  General  Assembly  of  Vir- 
ginia, before  which  Scarburgh  finally  appeared  on  a  warrant, 
accjuitted  him  of  "all  charges  and  crimes  made  against  him  for 
matters  of  trade,  etc..  and  further  reinvested  him  in  such  offices 
and  employment  as  he  before  held  in  the  Colony." 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  39 

In  1659  Colonel  Scarburgh  was  placed  in  command  of  a  force 
of  600  men  and  ordered  to  cooperate  with  the  Governor  of  Mary- 
land in  a  campaign  against  the  Assateagne  Indians,  whom  he 
thoroughly  subdued. 

In  1661  he  was  appointed  a  commissioner  bv  Phihp  Calvert, 
of  Maryland,  to  assist  in  surveying  the  true  l^oundary  line 
between  Maryland  and  Virginia.  In  the  execution  of  this  im- 
portant mission,  he  not  only  got  the  better  of  the  Maryland  com- 
missioners, greatly  extending  the  territory  of  Accomack  to  the 
north,  in  order  to  embrace  his  Maryland  holdings,  but  took  occa- 
sion to  drive  the  Quakers  resident  in  Accomack  out  of  the 
county.  Upon  these  unfortunate  people  he  visited  the  most 
relentless  persecutions,  and  was  finally  enjoined  by  Cromwell 
from  further  molesting  them.  His  report  of  his  proceedings  is 
a  most  amusing  and  interesting  document.  (See  ''Report  Va.  & 
Md.  Boundary  Commission,"  1872.) 

Becoming  involved  in  difficulties  with  the  Court  of  North- 
ampton, which  sought  to  restrain  him  and  punish  him  for  his 
persecutions  of  the  Indians,  the  Dutch  inhabitants  of  the  county, 
the  Quakers,  and  the  Puritans,  whom  he  detested  as  heretics,  he 
actually  secured  as  Surveyor-General  the  division  of  the  County 
of  Northampton  in  1663,  against  the  most  violent  protests,  and 
ran  the  southern  boundary  of  the  new  county  along  Occahannock 
Creek  on  the  north  shore  of  which  his  home  estate  was  located. 
This  gave  Accomack  County,  or  the  northern  county,  double  the 
area  of  Northampton  County. 

Besides  being  a  manufacturer  of  salt,  he  erected  a  large  malt 
house  on  his  estate  at  Occahannock,  and  also  operated  there  a 
shoe  factory,  using  moose  hides  extensively,  which  were  brought 
by  his  own  vessels  from  the  Kennebec  River.  In  1662  he  em-^ 
ployed  nine  shoemakers.  In  1659  he  imported  thirty  negroes,, 
which  he  bought  from  the  Dutch  in  Manhattan,  for  his  daughters, 
Matilda  and  Tabitha.  This  was  then  the  largest  number  of 
slaves  ever  brought  into  the  Colony  at  one  time  by  an  individual 
purchaser. 

Scarburgh  was  an  ardent  and  intolerant  Anglican  and  a  vestry- 
man of  his  church.  He  was  not  only  the  occupant  of  high  public 
offices,  a  soldier,  the  largest  merchant-trader  and  ship  owner  in 


40  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Virginia,  a  manufacturer  of  salt,  malt,  and  shoes,  hut  he  was  a 
lawyer  second  to  no  other  practitioner  on  the  Eastern  Shore. 
Tn  1659  he  was  employed  hy  the  vestry  to  represent  the  church 
in  a  controversy  growing  out  of  a  will  de\'ising  certain  lands  to 
the  parish.  Mr.  Bruce  characterizes  the  written  opinion  of  Scar- 
burgh  as  a  masterly  exposition  of  the  law  of  wills.  ( Bruce's 
Institutional  Hist,  of  Va. :  Northampton  Records,  Vol.  1657- 
64,  p.  157.)  He  died  between  March  22d  and  May  25th,  1671. 
of  smallpox,  when  fifty-four  years  of  age,  at  his  home  on  Occa- 
hannock  Creek,  which  was  known  as  "Hedric  Cottage."  This 
estate  consisted  of  3,000  acres.  The  remains  of  "Hedric 
Cottage"  still  stand  on  the  north  side  of  tlie  creek.  The  neck 
of  land  included  between  Occahannock  Creek  and  Cradock's 
Creek,  to  the  north,  is  called  Scarburgh's  Neck,  or  "Conjurer's 
Neck,"  to  this  day.  "Hedric  Cottage"  is  almost  opposite  the 
present  Concord  Wharf. 

The  writer  knows  of  no  name  in  Virginia  that  is  so  inter- 
woven with  tradition  as  is  that  of  Col.  Edmund  Scarburgh — or 
"Conjurer"  Scarburgh.  In  Accomack  to-day  the  name  is  con- 
nected with  the  past  as  is  that  of  the  "Black  Douglas"  in  Scot- 
land. The  weirdest  stories  concerning  this  remarkable  man  are 
narrated  to  the  children  by  their  nurses.  Memory  of  him  is  as 
fresh  in  Accomack  as  though  he  died  but  yesterday,  and  it  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  the  original  records  disclose  a  character 
even  more  domineering  and  forceful,  and  a  personality  even  more 
commanding  and  interesting,  than  are  accredited  to  him  by  tradi- 
tion. How  strange  it  is  that  the  authentic  crest  of  "Conjurer" 
Scarburgh,  long  claimed  by  his  English  ancestors  l^efore  him, 
should  have  been  a  Saracen's  head  upon  a  lance.  True  bred  was 
he  to  the  forebears  who  won  for  themselves  in  the  Crusades  this 
ghastly  symbol  of  courage  and  valorous  conviction.  To  Edmund 
Scarburgh  the  savages  of  Accomack,  the  Dutch,  the  Puritans, 
and  the  Quakers,  all  of  whom  felt  the  weight  of  his  heavy  hand, 
were  but  the  heathen  unbelievers  that  fell  before  the  fierce  on- 
slaughts of  his  ancestors.  No  man's  head  was  safe  that  did  not 
bow  to  his  unrestrained  and  imperious  will.  We  may  not  ap- 
prove his  career  as  a  whole;  his  descendants  may  not  boast  of 
all  his  actions,  Init   it  is  pardonable  if  they  entertain   a  secret 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  41 

pride  in  the  power  wielded  by  their  extraordinary  ancestor.  He 
was  perhaps  really  no  worse  than  the  majority  of  his  con- 
temporaries— only  notable  for  his  unbridled  violence  because  of 
the  magnitude  and  prominence  of  his  deeds.  An  authority  unto 
himself,  he  was  unfortunate  in  having  no  one  able  to  curb  and 
restrain  his  actions.  A  tyrant  by  nature,  he  was  restive  of  all 
restraint  upon  his  liberty  of  action — right  or  wrong. 

Col.  Edmund  Scarburgh  married,  probably  in  1635,  i\Iary 
Littleton,  daughter  of  Col.  Nathaniel  Littleton  of  "Nandua,"  and 
Ann  Southey,  widow  of  Charles  Harmer,  and  daughter  of  Henry 
Southey  of  Accomack,  and  Eldy.  his  wife.  Littleton  came  to  \'ir- 
einia  in  1635,  having  been  one  of  the  gentlemen  who  comprised 
the  company  of  the  Earl  of  Southampton  in  the  Low  Countries 
in  1625. 

The  ancestry  of  the  immigrant  is  interesting.  Sir  Thomas 
Littleton,  K.  B.  of  Frankley,  Worcestershire,  the  famous  judge 
and  author  of  the  Tenures,  was  the  great-grandfather  of  Sir 
Edward  Littleton  of  Henley.  Shropshire,  Chief  Justice  of  North 
Wales,  who  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Ludlow, 
also  Chief  Justice  of  North  Wales,  and  dying  in  1621.  left  issue: 
(1)  Sir  Edward.  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas.  1639; 
Lord  Keeper  of  the  Privy  Seal.  1640:  created  Baron  Littleton 
of  Mounsloe.  1641:  and  died  August  27,  1645;  (2)  William, 
Sergeant-at-law :  (3)  James,  fellow  of  All  Souls  College,  Ox- 
ford: died  unmarried,  1645;  (4)  William  (a  second  son  of  the 
name),  married,  but  left  no  issue:  (5)  John,  fellow  of  All  Souls 
College:  Master  of  the  Temple  until  ejected  in  1644,  as  being 
in  the  King's  army:  (6)  Nathaniel,  of  Accomack,  Va. ;  (7)  Sir 
Timothy:  and  (8)  Samuel,  died  unmarried.  (For  facts  con- 
cerning the  Littletons  see  Va.  Mag.  of  Hist.  &  Biog.,  Vol. 
XVHL.  p.  20:  William  and  Mary  Quarterly,  Vol.  VH.,  p.  230; 
Vol.  IX.,  p.  62:  New  Eng.  Hist.  &  Gen.  Reg.,  Vol.  XLL,  pp. 
364-8.  See  also  "Evelyn's  Diary."  ^larch  24.  1688,  for  inter- 
esting references  to  the  beautiful  residences  of  the  Littleton 
family  in  England.) 

When  Charles  I.  raised  his  standard  at  Oxford,  Sir  Edward 
Littleton.  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Privy  Seal,  and  brother  of  Col. 
Nathaniel  Littleton  of  Accomack,  fled  from  London,  where  he 


42  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

had  remained  until  compellefl  to  abandon  Parliament,  taking  the 
Great  Seal  of  England  with  him.  (See  "Dictionary  of  National 
Biography.")  Sir  Thomas  Littleton  was  one  of  the  most  famous 
law  writers  in  the  English  language. 

In  1638  Col.  Nathaniel  Littleton  inirchased  a  tract  of  land 
from  Col  Edmund  Scarburgh,  the  deed  thereto  being  the  first 
recorded  in  the  Court  of  Accomack.  In  1640  he  was  Commander 
or  Chief  Magistrate  of  Accomack,  and  in  1648  was  made  joint 
collector  of  revenues  for  Northampton  County  with  Colonel 
Scarburgh.  In  1652  he  was  a  Burgess.  Henry  Southey,  the 
father  of  Ann  Southey,  was  resident  in  Accomack  as  early  as 
1636.  In  1640  it  was  recorded  that  Nathaniel  Littleton  and  his 
father-in-law,  Mr.  Southey,  owned  thirteen  slaves,  and  that  the 
former  sold  one  for  1,200  pounds  of  tobacco.  This  is  the  first 
recorded  instance  of  a  slave  sale  in  Accomack.  (Bruce's 
"Economic  History  of  Virginia.") 

Ann  Littleton  stood  as  godmother  at  the  christening  of  the 
eldest  son  of  Capt.  Roger  Marshall  in  1636.  Captain  Marshall 
was  the  ancestor  of  Chief  Justice  John  Marshall.  Ann  Littleton 
died  in  1656  in  Northampton  County,  on  a  plantation  on 
Magothy  Bay,  where  she  resided  after  her  husband's  death.  In 
her  will  she  requested : 

"Mr.  Francis  Doughty,  minister  and  preacher  of  ye  word  in 
ye  Parish,  to  counsell  my  children,  not  only  in  the  management 
of  their  estate,  and  in  civill  behavior  in  ye  world,  but  be  a  means 
to  instruct  them  in  the  feare  of  God  and  service  of  the  Almighty 
and  Creator,  and  in  ye  true  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  into  whose 
hands  I  commit  in  common,  all  our  Soules  when  it  pleaseth  him 
to  take  them  from  us  out  of  this  sinful  life  to  wch  I  say  Amen 
and  Amen." 

The  inventory  of  Ann  Littleton's  effects  shows  that  she  owned 
a  great  amount  of  handsome  furniture,  and  that  her  wardrobe 
was  equal,  in  size  and  quality,  to  that  of  the  finest  ladies  of 
England. 

The  Littleton  arms  are : 

Arms:    Argent  a  chevron  between  three  escallops  sable. 

Crest  :   A  stag's  head  cabossed  sable,  attired  or,  between 

attires  a  buglehorn  or,  hanging  by  a  bend  gules. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  43 

Col.  Edmund  Scarbiirgh  and  his  wife,  Mary,  are  known  to 
have  left  at  least  two  daughters,  Matilda  and  Tabitha,  and  at 
least  four  sons — Col.  Charles.  Capt.  Edmund,  Littleton,  and 
Henry.  Matilda  married  Lieut. -Col.  John  West  of  Accomack, 
and  Tabitha  numbered  among  her  four  husbands,  Maj.-Gen. 
John  Custis  of  Accomack,  the  ancestor  of  Martha  Dandridge's 
first  husband.  Matilda  and  Tabitha  were  not  married  until  after 
1659,  for  that  year  they  were  mentioned  as  unmarried. 

Col.  Charles  Scarburgh  was  named  after  his  uncle.  Sir  Charles 
Scarburgh.  Li  1652,  when  not  over  seventeen  years  of  age,  he 
owned  3,050  acres  in  one  tract  along  Pungoteague  Creek,  besides 
other  land,  including  a  large  amount  in  Maryland.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  1688  and  other  years,  and 
a  member  of  the  Colonial  Council  from  1691  until  his  death  in 
1703.  In  1692  he  was  Councillor,  Collector,  and  Naval  Officer 
for  the  Eastern  Shore,  Commander-in-Chief  of  Accomack,  and 
presiding  Justice  of  that  county.  He  married  the  daughter  of 
Gov.  Richard  Bennett.  His  sons,  Henry  and  Bennett,  were 
prominent  men  in  their  day  and  held  important  offices  in  Ac- 
comack. Col.  Charles  Scarburgh,  unlike  his  brother,  Capt. 
Edmund,  did  not  remain  loyal  to  Berkeley  in  1676,  but  held  a 
commission  as  captain  under  Bacon.  March  3,  1677,  he  was 
tried  by  the  King's  Commissioners,  and  fined  40  pounds  for 
"scandalous  and  mutinous  words  tending  to  the  dishonor  of  the 
right  honorable  the  Governor."  (Hening,  II.,  p.  549.)  At 
the  session  of  March  16th,  the  Court  sentenced  one  William  Scar- 
burgh to  death.  (Hening,  II.,  p.  553.)  It  would  seem  that 
Charles  Scarburgh  had  either  brought  to  bear  some  powerful 
influence,  which  did  not  avail  to  save  William  Scarburgh,  or  that 
he  had  actually  taken  little  part  in  the  rebellion.  As  he  was  a 
very  positive  character,  it  is  most  probable  that  influence  at 
Court  saved  him.  His  uncle,  Col.  Southey  Littleton,  son  of 
Col.  Nathaniel  Littleton,  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Council 
at  this  time.  Both  Littleton  and  Lieut. -Col.  John  West,  who 
married  the  sister  of  Charles  Scarburgh,  were  members  of  the 
court-martial  which  tried  the  rebels.  With  an  uncle  and  a 
brother-in-law  as  members  of  the  Court,  and  a  great-uncle,  after 


44  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

whom  he  was  named,  in  the  retinue  of  the  King,  Charles  Scar- 
burgh  was  well  protected  against  the  wrath  and  vengeance  of 
Governor  Berkeley. 

It  does  not  appear  that  William  Scarl)urgh  was  executed. 
Who  this  William  Scarburgh  was  is  not  known. 

In  1688  Col.  Charles  Scarburgh,  with  his  kinsman.  Col.  Ed- 
mund Bowman,  was  prosecuted  for  vehement  public  utterances 
and  accusations  against  the  Catholic  proclivities  of  James  II. 
(See  Burke's  "History  of  Virginia.") 

Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh,  second  son  of  Col.  Edmund  Scar- 
burgh, like  his  brother  Charles,  held  high  positions  in  Accomack 
County,  including  both  civil  and  military  ofifices.  (Va.  Mag. 
Hist.  &  Biog.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  229-231.)  In  1677  he  was  justice  of 
Accomack  and  a  signatory  party  to  the  historic  Accomack 
Memorial,  which  was  submitted  to  Governor  Berkeley  after  the 
collapse  of  Bacon's  Rebellion. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  family  of  Scarburgh  in  Accomack  was 
allied,  in  the  person  of  a  son  of  the  emigrant,  with  the  noble 
Littleton  family,  through  a  daughter  with  the  Wise  family,  and 
through  granddaughters  with  the  West  and  Custis  families,  and 
through  the  emigrant's  grandson  with  a  daughter  of  Governor 
Bennett.  It  is  not,  therefore,  too  much  to  say  that  the  Scar- 
burgh clan,  already  powerful,  became  through  its  alliances  one 
of  the  most  influential  families  in  the  Colony  in  the  Seventeenth 
Century. 

From  what  has  l)een  written  of  the  Scarburghs,  it  would 
hardly  seem  that  John  \\'ise,  the  immigrant,  would  have  1)een 
permitted  to  take  the  hand  of  Hannah  Scarburgh,  unless  he  had 
possessed  family  and  fortune,  for  his  wife  was  not  only  the 
eldest  daughter  of  Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh,  the  foremost  man 
of  his  time  in  Accomack,  but  was  the  sister  of  Sir  Charles  Scar- 
burgh and  Col.  Edmund  Scarburgh. 

Exactly  when  John  Wise  married  Hannah  Scarburgh  is  not 
known,  but  the  marriage  occurred  prior  to  1655,  for  it  appears 
by  the  records  in  the  land  office  at  Richmond,  Va.,  that  Governor 
Diggs,  by  deed  dated  the  24th  day  of  March,  1655,  granted  John 
Wise  200  acres  of  land  on  Nondies  Creek  in  Northampton 
County.      (Name  of  Accawmacke  changed  to  Northampton  in 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  45 

1642.)  The  land  granted  John  Wise  was  declared  to  be  due  him 
for  the  transportation  of  four  persons  to  the  Colony.  These 
four  persons  were  said  to  be  Nohal  Hobs,  Lawrence  Hilyer, 
Hannah  Wise,  and  a  man  named  Wently  Mackelayne. 

There  is  a  perfectly  obvious  error  in  the  record.  John  Wise 
did  not  transport  Hannah  Wise.  She  was  his  wife,  and  under 
the  law  he  was  entitled  to  50  acres  for  his  wife,  as  well  as  for 
those  he  transported. 

It  has  always  seemed  odd  to  the  writer  that  no  mention  was 
made  in  the  Scarburgh  patent  of  1637,  above  quoted,  of  Hannah 
Scarburgh,  the  daughter  of  Capt.  Edmund  and  the  sister  of 
Col.  Edmund  Scarburgh.  It  may  be  that  she  was  even  then 
married  to  John  Wise,  whose  right  it  was  to  claim  land  in  her 
name.  If  this  be  true  it  is  readily  seen  why  Colonel  Scarburgh 
asserted  no  claim  in  the  name  of  his  sister  along  with  that  of  his 
father,  mother,  and  grandfather. 

Another  piece  of  documentary  evidence  tends  to  fix  the  date  of 
his  marriage  more  closely.  In  1691  his  granddaughter,  Naomi 
Anderson,  as  we  shall  see,  was  twenty-two  years  old.  She  was 
born,  therefore,  in  1669.  Assuming  that  her  mother,  the 
daughter  of  John  Wise,  was  at  least  sixteen  when  she  married 
William  Anderson  in  1668,  she  must  have  been  born  in  1652, 
and  her  parents  must  have  been  married  before  that  date. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  soon  after  his  marriage,  John  Wise, 
the  immigrant,  settled  in  the  upper  half  of  the  peninsula,  for  on 
October  27,  1653.  the  records  show  that  Tepiapon,  King  of  Great 
Nussawattocks.  called  him  into  Court,  "as  a  neighboring  planter," 
to  witness  a  deed. 

The  land  granted  John  Wise  in  1655  was  described  as  on 
Nondies  Creek,  and  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  creek,  on 
the  west  by  the  lands  of  Edmund  Littleton,  on  the  north  by  the 
Great  Swamp,  and  on  the  east  by  the  land  of  George  Truitt.  The 
creek  referred  to  is  the  present  Xandua  Creek,  and  the  swamp 
on  the  north  is  unquestionably  that  now  known  as  Dolls  Swamp. 
August  17,  1663,  a  further  grant  of  250  acres  of  land  was 
certified  to  him  for  five  other  head  rights  as  they  were  called, 
that  is,  for  five  people  introduced  into  the  Colony;  and  on  the 
10th  of  November,  1663,  a  deed  to  him  appears  from  Ekeekes, 


46  Col.  JOHX  WISE 

the  King  of  Onancock  and  Chesconnessex,  for  600  acres  of  land 
on  the  south  side  of  Chesconnessex  Creek.  ( Accomack  Records, 
1668.)  This  tract,  with  other  land  added  thereto,  was  known 
for  many  years  as  the  "Dutch  Blanket"  tract,  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  the  consideration  which  passed  to  the  Indian  Chief  was 
seven  Dutch  blankets. 

A  copy  of  the  original  deed  of  Ekeekes  is  here  given: 

"Know  all  men  by  these  presents  that  I  Ekeekes,  King  of  Onan- 
cock and  Chicconesseck  in  ye  county  of  Accomac,  have  bargained 
and  sold  forever  from  me  and  my  heirs  unto  John  Wise  his 
heirs  executors  or  assigns  forever  A  Certaine  parcell  of  Land 
lying  on  ye  South  side  of  Chicconesseck  to  ye  quantity  of  Six 
hundred  acres  of  land  taken  up  by  Majr.  Wm.  Waters  wch 
land  lying  betweene  two  peaces  of  Land  taken  by  John  Alichael 
on  ye  same  side  of  ye  Creeke,  and  I  doe  forever  revoke  any 
interest  that  I  or  any  of  my  people  shall  or  may  pretend,  and  in 
consideration  whereof  I  doe  acknowledge  to  have  received  full 
satisfaction,  according  to  agreement  in  witness  whereof,  I  here- 
unto Sett  my  hand  this  3d  of  July  1663. 

Ekeekes  his 
mke 
"Test  George  Truet 
"ye  mke  of 
"Alice  R.  Truet 

"The  above  written  acknowledged  in  open  court  the  10th  day 
of  November  1663  by  Ekeekes  as  his  Reall  Act  &  Deed  to 
Jno.  Wise. 

"Test  Robt.  Hutchinson  CI  Cur. 

"Recorded  ye  12th  of  November  p  me  Robt.  Hutchinson  CI 
Cur  Co.  Accomk. 

"A  copy : 

"Teste  John  D.  Grant  CC." 

In  1668  Governor  Berkeley  made  a  grant  of  1,060  acres  to 
John  Wise,  part  of  which  was  confirmatory  of  that  previously 
granted  to  and  purchased  by  him.  Out  of  this  tract  w ere  car\ed 
the  two  estates  of  "Clifton"  and  "Fort  George"  on  Chescon- 
nessex Creek,  which  were  handed  down  by  six  wills   for  two 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  47 

hundred  and  four  years  from  father  to  son,  passing  out  of  the 
family  in  1867.  The  wills  referred  to  are  all  of  record  in  the 
same  court. 

In  1642  the  Shire  of  Accomack  hecame  the  Countv  of 
Northampton,  and  June  16,  1662.  John  Wise  was  chosen  as  a 
warden  of  Hungar's  Parish,  the  oath  of  office  being  administered 
to  him  in  the  name  of  "The  Keepers  of  the  Liberty  of  England, 
by  authority  of  Parliament."  In  February,  1649,  he  united 
with  the  other  Royalists  of  Northampton,  under  the  leadership 
of  his  brother-in-law.  Col.  Edmund  Scarburgh,  in  proclaiming 
Charles  II.  the  rightful  successor  of  Charles  I.,  and  in  March, 
1651.  he  and  one  hundred  and  fifteen  otlier  Royalists  were  re- 
quired to  sign  an  engagement  to  be  "true  and  faithful  to  the 
Commonwealth  of  England  as  it  is  now  established  without 
King's  or  House  of  Lords."  He  was  also  a  party  to  the  North- 
ampton Protest  of  March,  1652,  in  which  for  the  first  time  in 
America  "taxation  without  representation"  was  declared  to  be 
"tyranny,"  and  in  1677  he,  li'^'e  his  wife's  nephew,  Capt.  Edmund 
Scarburgh,  was  a  signatory  party  to  the  Accomack  Memorial  to 
Berkeley.  This  historic  instrument  was  signed  l)y  the  ten  justices 
of  the  county.  He  appeared  as  a  justice  of  the  Accomack  Court 
with  the  title  of  colonel  at  its  first  session — April  21.  1663. 

The  justices  of  the  county  courts  at  this  time  were  the  fore- 
most men  of  their  communities.  The  offices  of  justice  and 
county  clerk  in  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  early  nineteenth 
centuries  were  very  much  more  dignified  and  highly  esteemed 
positions  than  they  are  at  present,  for  the  judicial  system  was 
more  fully  concerned  with  governmental  administration  under 
the  old  order  than  it  is  now.  A  justice  was  in  effect  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  central  authority ;  a  court  clerk  was  the  local 
administrative  officer.  There  were  no  great  merchants,  bankers, 
and  other  business  men  to  lead  in  the  affairs  of  the  rural  com- 
munities where  all  were  planters,  and  the  population  was  sparse 
and  scattered.  The  counties  were  the  important  governmental 
divisions,  and  their  interests  were  often  as  adverse  as  their 
geographical  locations  were  widely  separated.  The  whole  life 
of  the  county,  political  and  economic,  centered  in  its  court. 
Through  the  medium  of  representati\'e  burgesses  alone  the  county 


48  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

interests  were  harmonized  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  except 
in  that  body  the  people  of  the  Colony  rarely  acted  as  a  unit  in 
any  matter.  The  Eastern  Shore  peninsula  first  known  as  Ac- 
comack, which  translated  means  "the  other  side  of  the  water," 
from  1632  to  1642  as  the  Shire  of  Accomack,  from  1642  to  1663 
as  the  County  of  Northampton,  and  from  1663  as  the  counties 
of  Northampton  and  Accomack,  was  more  widely  separated 
from  the  other  counties  of  Virginia  than  any  other  section  of 
the  Colony.  It  was  even  claimed  by  its  people  in  1652  to  right- 
fully comprise  a  colonial  entity — separate  from  Virginia — with 
the  people  of  which  along  the  James  River  the  Accomackians 
had  little  in  common.  To  understand  the  history  of  the  Eastern 
Shoremen,  and  to  appreciate  fully  their  position  and  attitude,  one 
must  bear  in  mind  the  foregoing  facts.  The  isolated  Eastern 
Shoremen  were  a  veritable  race  unto  themselves,  and  their  leaders 
were  relatively  more  important  in  the  eyes  of  their  people  than 
men  occupying  the  same  offices  in  the  counties  across  the  Chesa- 
peake. Especially  were  a  few  great  families  or  clans  more 
powerful  and  united  because  of  the  limited  area  of  the  peninsula, 
its  isolation,  and  their  frequent  intermarriages.  This  fact  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  Scarburghs  and  the  Wises.  It  was  difficult 
for  a  member  of  either  of  these  families  in  the  seventeenth 
century  to  tell  exactly  what  kin  he  was  to  a  member  of  the  other. 
With  this  fact  we  shall  be  forcibly  impressed  as  this  record 
progresses,  and  yet  we  shall  also  be  astonished  to  discover  that 
the  record  of  the  Wise  family  shows  tliat  the  children  of  first 
cousins,  who  themselve  married  double  cousins,  produced  without 
exception  virile  men  and  women  of  exceptional  intellect  and 
character.  Intermarriages  by  blood  relations  occurred  in  this 
family  in  no  less  than  four  of  its  first  six  generations.  The 
record  fails  to  disclose  a  single  male  member  of  the  family  who 
was  not  a  man  of  outstanding  character  and  position,  and  the 
number  of  such  men  has  increased  with  each  generation  down  to 
and  including  the  present  or  eighth  generation.  There  have  been 
no  lunatics,  no  mental  or  moral  weaklings,  and  not  as  many  as 
the  average  numlier  of  physically  weak  men  to  be  found  in  the 
ordinary  family.  Nor  has  there  been  any  well-defined  physical 
weakness  or  disease  among  the  male  members  of  the  Wise  family 
which  could  not  l^e  clearly  traced  to  a  maternal  parent. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  49 

For  some  years  after  the  new  County  of  Accomack  was 
formed,  in  1663,  the  justices  held  court  in  Pungoteague  in  the 
tavern  of  John  Cole.  But  in  1680  a  courthouse  was  ordered 
to  be  built  at  Onancock,  the  new  seat  of  Accomack,  and,  pending 
the  erection  of  the  building,  court  was  held  at  the  residence  of 
John  Wise,  Justice,  on  Chesconnessex  Creek,  as  late  as  1683. 
(Accomack  County  Records,  Vol.  1676-8,  p.  97.) 

John  Wise  I.  died  in  1695  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 
He  was  an  ardent  Royalist  and  Anglican,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  a  very  pious  man.  His  will,  dated  October  20,  1693,  proved 
November  19,  1695,  and  recorded  in  the  Court  of  Accomack,  is 
a  curious  instrument.  The  greater  portion  of  it  is  devoted  to 
the  disposition  of  the  testator's  "Imortal  Soul."  (Accomack 
Records,  1695.)  The  records  show  that  he  was  called  in  as  a 
friend  of  the  Indians,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  to  witness  their 
deeds,  and  to  counsel  them.  He  was  regarded  by  the  natives  as 
a  friend  and  protector  of  the  red  men.  He  must  have  been  of 
great  service  to  them  in  their  troubles  with  his  brother-in-law. 
Colonel  Scarburgh.  Tradition  has  it  that  the  first  communion 
set  of  St.  George's  Church,  Pungoteague,  was  presented  by  the 
immigrant,  John  Wise,  though  there  is  no  record  to  that  effect. 
Bishop  Meade  refers  to  this  old  service  in  his  famous  book. 
Pieces  of  it  were  in  existence  in  his  time  (1845).  John  Wise  is 
also  declared  to  have  been  a  man  of  great  ability,  indomitable 
energv,  dauntless  courage,  and  strict  integrity.  (Va.  Hist. 
Collect,  Vol.  XL,  p.  188.) 

Mention  of  one  Nicholas  Wise,  of  Lower  Norfolk  County,  a 
contemporary  of  John  Wise,  is  found  in  the  Virginia  Records  of 
the  Seventeenth  Century.  Nicholas  Wise  was  settled  on  lands 
now  comprising  the  site  of  Norfolk,  Va.,  before  1675,  and  was 
a  shipwright  by  trade.  (Records  of  Lower  Norfolk  County, 
original  volume,  1666-1675,  p.  9.)  When,  in  June,  1680,  the 
General  Assembly  enacted  an  elaborate  measure  for  the  en- 
couragement of  cohabitation,  the  plantation  of  Nicholas  Wise 
was  designated  as  the  cite  for  the  county  seat.  ( Bruce's 
"Economic  History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century," 
Vol.  II.,  pp.  439,  549.)     Nicholas  Wise  granted  to  the  corpora- 


50  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

tion  of  Norfolk,  by  deed,  the  necessary  land  for  the  erection  of 
the  town,  which  grew  rapidly  from  1681  under  the  fostering  care 
of  the  colonial  government. 

Neither  the  parentage  nor  the  place  of  the  nativity  of  Nicholas 
Wise  of  Norfolk  is  known.  Nicholas  was  a  family  name  among 
the  Wises  of  Devonshire,  as  reference  to  their  records  discloses. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  ancient  records  of  Virginia  to  show  that 
John  Wise  of  Accomack  and  Nicholas  Wise  of  Norfolk  were  in 
any  way  related,  and  the  latter  does  not  seem  to  have  left  any 
male  descendants. 

Living  in  Barbadoes.  December  22,  1679,  were  Christopher 
and  Abraham  Wise.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the  John  Wise  who 
sailed  on  the  Bonavcnturc  in  1636  finally  settled  in  Barbadoes, 
and  was  the  father  of  Christopher  and  Abraham.  He  did  not 
remain  in  Massachusetts,  where  it  is  certain  that  Jo.  or  Joseph 
settled. 

Jo.  or  Joseph  W^ise  was  living  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  soon  after 
1636,  and  in  1652  his  son  John,  the  celebrated  divine,  who  was 
even  more  distinguished  than  his  kinsman  in  Accomack,  was 
born. 

Graduating  from  Harvard,  in  1673,  John  Wise  settled  in 
Ipswich  in  1685  as  pastor  of  the  Second  Church,  and  remained 
there  until  his  death  in  1725.  He  was  noted  for  great  physical 
strength  and  for  moral  and  intellectual  courage,  not  differing  in 
the  last  two  respects  from  the  immigrant  of  the  same  name  in 
\"irginia.  In  1687  he  resisted  the  tyranny  of  Governor  Andros, 
and  was  in  consequence  fined  and  imprisoned.  When  Andros 
was  expelled,  \\'ise  came  to  the  front  as  a  legislator,  and  in 
1690  he  accompanied  as  chaplain  Sir  William  Phips'  expedition 
against  Canada.  He  is  chiefly  noted  for  the  democratic  stand 
he  took  against  the  Mathers  in  the  ecclesiastical  controversies 
that  marked  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century.  His  liberal 
views  were  presented  with  much  force  and  eloquence  in  two 
treatises — in  "The  Churches'  Quarrel  Espoused"  (1710),  and, 
more  fully,  in  "A  Vindication  of  the  Government  of  New  Eng- 
land Churches"  (1717) — both  of  which  were  reissued  on  the 
eve  of  the  Revolutionary  and  the  Civil  wars.  M.  C.  Tyler  gives 
the  best  account  of  John  Wise  of  Massachusetts  in  his  "History 
of  American  Literature,"  \o\.  II. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  51 

Writing  of  this  John  Wise,  Fiske  in  "The  Beginnings  of  New 
England,"  p.  270,  has  the  following  to  say: 

"The  despotic  rule  of  Andros  was  felt  in  more  serious  ways 
than  in  the  seizing  upon  a  meeting  house.  Arbitrary  taxes  were 
imposed,  encroachments  were  made  upon  common  lands  as  in 
older  manorial  times,  and  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was 
suspended.  Dudley  was  appointed  censor  of  the  press,  and 
nothing  was  allowed  to  be  printed  without  his  permission.  All 
the  public  records  of  the  late  New  England  governments  were 
ordered  to  be  brought  to  Boston,  whither  it  thus  became  neces- 
sary to  make  a  tedious  journey  to  consult  them.  All  deeds  and 
wills  were  required  to  be  registered  in  Boston,  and  excessive 
fees  were  charged  for  the  registry.  It  was  proclaimed  that  all 
private  titles  to  land  were  to  be  ransacked,  and  that  whoever 
wished  to  have  his  title  confirmed  must  pay  a  heavy  quit  rent, 
which  under  the  circumstances  amounted  to  blackmail.  The 
General  Court  was  abolished.  The  power  of  taxation  was  taken 
from  the  town-meetings  and  lodged  with  the  Governor.  Against 
this  crowning  iniquity  the  town  of  Ipswich,  led  by  its  sturdy 
pastor,  John  Wise,  made  protest.  In  response  Mr.  Wise  was 
thrown  into  prison,  fined  50  pounds,  and  suspended  from  the 
ministry.  A  notable  and  powerful  character  was  this  John  Wise. 
One  of  the  broadest  thinkers  and  most  lucid  writers  of  his  time, 
he  seems  like  a  forerunner  of  the  liberal  Unitarian  di\'ines  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  His  'Vindication  of  the  Government  of  the 
New  England  Churches,'  published  in  1717,  was  a  masterly 
exposition  of  the  principles  of  civil  government,  and  became  a 
text-book  of  liberty  for  our  Revolutionary  fathers,  containing 
some  of  the  notable  expressions  that  are  used  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

"It  was  on  the  trial  of  Mr.  Wise  in  October,  1687,  that  Dudley 
openly  declared  that  the  people  of  New  England  had  now  no 
further  privileges  left  them  than  not  to  be  sold  for  slaves." 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  shortly  after  John  Wise  of  Vir- 
ginia was  compelled,  under  threat  of  punishment  along  with  the 
other  Accomack  Royalists,  to  give  assurances  of  loyalty  to  the 
British  Government,  against  which  he  had  joined  in  a  protest 
because  of  "taxation  without  representation,"  John  Wise  of 
Massachusetts  was  punished  for  resisting  the  tyranny  of  the 
British  Government,  and  for  uttering  language  subsequently  in- 
corporated in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


52  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Here  it  should  be  noted  that  there  were  two  locahties 
known  as  Accomack  in  America — The  Virginia  peninsula,  and 
Plymouth,  Mass.  The  oldest  court  records  in  English-speaking 
America  to-day  are  those  of  Accomack,  Va.,  dating  in  unbroken 
sequence  from  January  7,  1632,  and  those  of  Accomack 
(Plymouth),  Mass.,  beginning  with  the  year  1629,  but  not 
consecutive.  The  thought  has  often  occurred  to  the  writer  that 
the  father  of  John  Wise  of  Roxbury,  Mass.,  may  have  intended 
to  join  his  kinsman,  John  Wise  of  Accomack,  Va.,  or  vice  versa, 
but  that  they  became  separated  by  reason  of  a  confusion  of  the 
locality  in  which  the  earlier  immigrant  settled. 

John  Wise  of  Massachusetts,  like  Nicholas  Wise  of  Norfolk, 
Va.,  does  not  appear  to  have  left  male  descendants. 

The  name  Wise  also  appears  in  the  early  records  of  the  Valley 
of  Virginia.  The  writer  is  at  last  able  to  state  authoritatively  its 
origin  there.  In  Waddell's  "Annals  of  Augusta  County,"  one 
John  Wise,  who  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  is  recorded,  and  in 
Chalkley's  "Abstracts  of  Augusta  Records,"  one  Adam  Wise. 
WHien  they  arrived  in  Augusta  from  Pennsylvania  about  1760, 
along  with  other  German  settlers,  their  name  was  Wiss — the 
German  varient  of  Geweisen,  which  was  strikingly  similar  to  the 
early  English  or  Saxon  Gewiss  or  Gwiss.  And  so,  no  doubt  the 
\\^ises  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Ohio,  West  Virginia,  and 
Indiana  Wises,  were  originally  named  Wiss  or  Weis. 

There  lived  in  Pennsylvania,  and  later  in  Missouri,  a  celebrated 
aeronaut  named  John  Wise.  He  was  born  in  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania,  February  24,  1808.  His  first  ascension  was  from 
Philadelphia  in  1835.  In  1838  he  rose  in  a  balloon  to  the  un- 
precedented height  of  13.000  feet.  Making  in  all  about  230 
ascensions,  he  made  valuable  scientific  discoveries  before  his  loss 
in  1879,  when  he  left  St.  Louis  in  a  great  balloon  called  the 
"Pathfinder,"  which  was  last  seen  over  Carlinville,  111.  In  1851 
he  petitioned  Congress  for  an  appropriation  of  $20,000  for  the 
purpose  of  constructing  a  large  airship  with  which  to  demonstrate 
the  possibility  of  destroying  any  fleet,  fort,  or  army  by  means 
of  explosive  missiles  dropped  from  the  car,  and  also  the 
possibility  of  crossing  the  ocean.  He  wrote  a  most  interesting 
book  entitled  "System  of  Aeronautics,"  from  which  we  learn 
that  he  was  of  German  origin,  probably  originally  named  Wiss 
or  Weis.  and,  therefore,  no  kin  to  the  A'^irginia  Wises. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Hon.  John  Wise  II.,  and  the  Other  Children  of 
Hon.  John  Wise  L,  and  Their  Descendants. 


The  West  Family — The  Wises 
OF  "Abingdon." 


Col.  John  Wise  I.  had  six  children :  John.  WilHam,  John 
(called  ''Johannes  for  distinction  sake"  ).  Barbara,  Hannah,  and 
Alary. 

Barbara  Wise,  or  "Barbary,"  as  she  was  named  in  her  father's 
will,  married  Arthur  Robins,  who  was  probably  the  son  of  the 
famous  Col.  Obedience  Robins,  of  Northampton  County,  and 
Grace  O'Xeill,  his  wife,  the  widow  of  Edward  Waters,  or  the 
son  of  Colonel  Robins'  brother,  Edward  Robins,  merchant. 

Hannah  Wise  married  John  Scarburgh,  of  Somerset,  Md. 

John  Wise  H.,  and  his  descendants,  we  shall  consider  at  the 
end  of  this  chapter. 

Col.  John  Wise  I.  also  referred  to  two  granddaughters  in  his 
will — Xaomi  Makennie  and  Comfort  Taylor.  They  were  the 
children  of  his  daughter,  Mary.  For  a  long  time  the  family 
genealogists  have  been  puzzled  by  the  mention  of  these  grand- 
children, but  the  mystery  was  solved  through  the  discovery  by 
the  writer  that  John  Francis  Makemie,  the  father  of  Presby- 
terianism  in  America,  married  Naomi  Anderson,  whose  sister 
was  Comfort,  the  wife  of  Elias  Taylor.  The  name  Makemie  was 
either  misspelled  by  the  testator,  his  scribe,  or  the  clerk  of  the 
Accomack  Court  in  recording  the  will,  a  double  "n"  being  sub- 
stituted for  "m,"  making  it  Makennie. 

John  Francis  Makemie  was  born  in  Co.  Donegal,  Ireland, 
and  in  1684  migrated  to  Somerset  County.  Maryland,  just  across 
the  boundary  from  Accomack  County,  establishing  his  first 
Scotch  church  at  Rehoboth.  In  1691  he  married  Naomi  Ander- 
son, who  was  born  in  1669.  She  was  the  daughter  of  William 
Anderson  of  Pocomoke  and  Onancock.  who  was  an  industrious 
merchant,  and  a  man  of  wealth  and  elegance,  and  her  mother  was 
the  daughter  of  John  Wise  I. 

William  Anderson  lived  on  his  favorite  estate,  Occoconson 
on  Pocomoke  Sound,  for  thirty  years,  where  he  owned  a  fine 
house  and  900  acres.  In  1681  he  built  a  house  in  Onancock.  He 
was.  therefore,  the  neighbor  of  Colonel  \\'ise,  whose  daughter, 
Mary,  he  married.  He  also  owned  1.000  acres  lying  between 
Onancock  Creek  and  ]\Iatchatank :    another  lar^e  estate  on  the 


56  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

seaside  at  Wollops :  and  much  property  elsewhere.  His  first 
wife  died  soon  after  the  birth  of  his  two  daughters.  In  1678 
WilHam  Anderson  married  Mary,  the  widow  of  John  Renny. 
("The  Days  of  Makemie,"  Rev.' L.  P.  Bowen,  pp.  29,  42,  43, 
192.)  He  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  an  ardent  RoyaHst,  and 
an  Anglican.  Yet  he  himself  performed  the  ceremony  of  his 
daughter's  marriage  to  ]Makemie — the  Presbyterian.  He  died 
in  1698,  leaving  a  will  dated  July  25,  and  probated  October  4, 
1698.  Edmund  Custis  was  named  as  his  executor.  (Ibid.,  298.) 
He  was  buried  on  his  estate  at  Pocomoke.  (Ibid.,  302,  303.) 
He  left  no  sons.  Part  of  his  estate  was  inherited  by  his  daughter. 
Comfort  Taylor,  but  the  bulk  of  it  passed  to  the  ]\Iakemies,  in- 
cluding Occoconson  and  Alatchatank.  Makemie  died  in  1708, 
and  his  will  w-as  probated  August  4th  of  that  year.  He  was 
buried  on  the  bank  of  Holston  Creek  near  Jenkins'  Bridge.  He 
left  his  property  to  his  widow,  and  his  two  daughters,  Elizabeth 
and  Anne. 

Comfort  Anderson,  who  married  Elias  Taylor,  had  four 
children,  a  son  who  died  in  infancy,  and  Elizabeth.  Naomi,  and 
Comfort.  (Ibid.,  298.)  The  name  Taylor  appeared  in  Acco- 
mack as  early  as  1635,  when  \\^illiam  Claiborne  issued  a  letter 
of  Marque  and  Reprisal  to  Phillip  Taylor,  the  first  Sheriff  of 
Accomack.  This  was  probably  the  first  commission  of  the  kind 
issued  in  America.  (  See  Wise's  "Early  History  of  the  Eastern 
Shore  of  Virginia.") 

Before  proceeding,  it  should  be  added  that  Mr.  Bowen's  "Days 
of  Makemie"  presents  a  most  vivid  picture  of  the  social  condi- 
tions of  Accomack  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  shows  that 
among  the  ruling  caste  of  the  little  peninsula  there  existed  a 
degree  of  luxurious  elegance  which  seems  hard  to  credit  in  spite 
of  the  aristocratic  personnel  of  the  Accomack  colonists  and  the 
plenty  of  their  land.  But  when  one  considers  carefully  the 
abundant  wealth  of  nature  there,  even  at  this  day,  and  the  fact 
that  the  early  inhabitants  were  not  compelled  to  lead  the  rough 
life  of  frontiersmen  in  a  struggle  with  the  mild  savages  of  the 
peninsula,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  w^hy  the  social  and  economic 
conditions  were  so  entirely  different  from  those  obtaining  on 
the  Western  Shore.    Furthermore,  no  destructive  wars  have  e\er 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  57 

visited  the  little  island  kingdom — hence  the  records  are  more 
intact  than  elsewhere,  and  afford  a  very  complete  picture  of  the 
people  and  their  life  from  the  earliest  days.  The  writer  knows 
of  no  other  locality  in  Virginia  where  the  wills  of  seven  suc- 
cessive generations  of  a  single  family,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Wise 
family  of  Accomack,  are  recorded  in  the  same  court.  These 
wills  themselves  comprise  a  complete  legal  record  of  that  family, 
and  establish  beyond  a  doubt  its  history  for  nearly  three 
centuries. 

William  Wise,  second  son  of  Col.  John  Wise  I.  and  Hannah 
Scarburgh,  died  intestate  in  1747.  His  estate  was  appraised  by 
George  Parker,  John  Bagly,  and  James  Bonnewell  on  August 
25,  1747.  He  inherited  about  400  acres  of  his  father's  estate 
on  Chesconnessex  Creek,  being  that  part  nearest  Onancock,  and 
on  April  21,  1690,  he  patented  a  tract  of  101  acres  of  land  in 
Pocoson  Parish,  York  County.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  ever 
resided  on  the  Western  Shore.  He  had  two  sons,  John  and 
WiUiam  II.,  to  whom  he  deeded  his  land  on  October  3,  1732. 

John  Wise  married  Mary  Bonnewell,  and  his  brother  married 
Sarah  Bonnewell,  daughters  of  James  Bonnewell  and  Mary 
Watson,  neighbors.  They  later  disposed  of  their  land  and  took 
up  their  residence  in  Onancock.  John  Wise  acquired,  soon  after 
this,  lands  in  Prince  George  County,  Maryland,  where  he  resided 
for  a  time,  but  in  1754  was  settled  near  Fredericksburg.  It  is 
possible  that  he  inherited  the  land  his  father  had  patented  in 
York  County.  He  gave  his  son  William  a  deed  to  land  "which 
said  John  had  received  by  deed  from  his  father  William  Wise." 

It  is  very  probable  that  Admiral  William  Clinton  Wise, 
U.  S.  N.,  retired,  is  descended  from  John  Wise  of  Maryland. 

I  have  recently  discovered  that  one  William  Wise  married 
Frances  Clark,  daughter  of  Capt.  Robert  Clark  (1738-99)  and 
his  wife  Susannah  Henderson.  Captain  Clark  served  in  the  Bed- 
ford County  militia  in  1781,  and  removed  to  Kentucky,  where  in 
1794  he  was  Judge  of  Clark  County.  In  one  record  it  is  stated 
that  William  Wise  married  Mary  Clark.  It  may  be  that  this 
William  Wise  was  the  son  of  John  Wise  and  Elizabeth  Jennings. 


58  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

John  Wise,  who  removed  to  the  Western  Shore,  married 
Elizabeth  Jennings  of  lower  Virginia,  and  tliey  had: 

1.  William  of  Accomack. 

2.  Nathaniel  Attorney  at  Law,  Alexandria,  Va.,  in  1795. 

3.  George  Wise,  married  Anna  Mason. 

4.  Francis  Wise,  died  unmarried  in  1814. 

George  Wise  and  Anna  Mason  had  a  son,  Peter  Wise,  who  in 
1764  married  Ann  Boiling  of  Petersburg,  daughter  of  Gerard 
Boiling  of  "Redstone."  of  the  family  of  Boiling  of  Cobbs,  and, 
therefore,  related  to  William  Randolph  of  Turkey  Island,  and 
Peter  Poythress. 

Peter  Wise  and  Ann  Boiling  had  issue : 

1.  Dr.    Peter  Wise,   born    1775;    died   October    10,    1808; 
unmarried. 

2.  George    Wise,    born    1778;     died    April    3.     1856,    at 
Alexandria,  Va. 

George  Wise  married  first,  in  1801,  Martha  Newton,  daughter 
of  John  Newton,  of  Westmoreland  County.  Virginia,  born  1741. 
died  1812,  and  Mary  Thomas,  born  1744.  died  1806.  John 
Newton  was  the  son  of  Maj.  William  Newton,  fourth  in  descent 
from  the  immigrant  John  Newton  and  Rose  Tucker,  his  wife. 
Martha  Newton  died  September  19,  1810,  and  George  Wise 
married,  second.  Margaret  Greer. 

By  Margaret  Greer,  George  Wise  had : 

1.  Charles  James  Wise,  died  at  Alexandria.  Va..  in  1898. 
Served  in  the  17tl-i  Virginia  Infantry,  C.  S.  A. 

2.  Margaret  \\'ise,  horn  July,  1824;  died  at  Alexandria,  Va. 

3.  Ann  Boiling  Wise,  who  married  William  Wilson,  of  St. 
Louis.  Mo. 

George  Wise  and  Martha  Newton  had  the  following  issue : 

1.  lohn    Francis   Wise,   born   January    11,    1805;    died   in 
infancy. 

2.  Francis  Wise,  died  in  infancy. 

3.  Martha  Wise,  died  young  and  unmarried. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  59 

4.  George  Peter  Wise,  born  Tnne  2i,  1806;  died  March  14, 
1881. 

5.  Mary  Ann  Alartha  \\'ise,  born  November  23,  1809. 

Of  these  children,  George  Peter  \\'ise  married  his  first  cousin, 
Francina  Ann  Newton.  ]\Iarch  12.  1829.  She  was  born  Novem- 
ber 9,  1807,  died  July  12.  1871,  and  was  the  granddaughter  of 
John  Newton,  of  Westmoreland  County,  and  the  daughter  of 
William  Newton  and  Jane  Stuart  of  Cameron.  She  was  a  sister 
of  Commodore  John  Thomas  Newton,  U.  S.  N. ;  Col.  William 
Newton,  U.  S.  A. ;  Capt.  Carloven  and  Lieut.  Edwin  Newton, 
U.  S.  N. ;   and  Hon.  Thomas  Willoughy  Newton. 

George  Peter  Wise  and  Francina  Ann  Newton  had  the  fol- 
lowing issue : 

1.  Peter  Wise,  born  February  7.  1830;  died  April  9,  1893; 
married  Alice,  daughter  of  Maj.  William  Nutt,  of  Fair- 
fax County. 

2.  Jane  Stuart  Wise,  born  January  6,  1832;  died  May  15, 
1865.  at  Norfolk,  \^a. ;  married  Capt.  John  C.  Whitwell, 
C.  S.  A..  February  2.  1864,  and  had  one  child,  who  died 
in  infancy. 

3.  Mary  Newton  Wise,  died  in  infancy. 

4.  Edwin  Newton  Wise,  born  Januar}^  2,  1836;  died  in 
Bedford  County.  Virginia,  in  1911.  Captain,  C.  S.  A. 
Married  Henrian  Davies,  daughter  of  Dr.  Davies,  of 
Bedford  County,  and  had  Edwin  Newton  Wise,  who 
married  his  cousin,  Nellie  Davies;  Jeanne  Stuart  Wise; 
and  Edith  Newton  ^^'ise. 

5.  Martha  Newton  Wise,  born  August  5,  1838;  died  un- 
married August  24,  1909,  at  Oakland,  Prince  William 
County,  Virginia. 

6.  Capt.  George  Wise,  born  at  "Abingdon,"  May  14,  1840. 
Captain  of  Engineers,  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 
Author  of  "The  Campaigns  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia."  Resident,  in  1917,  in  Alexandria.  Va. 
Married.  Octol^er  8,  1868,  Ida  A^irginia  Smoot,  daughter 
of   James    Egerton    Smoot    and    Phcebe    Caverly    Love. 


60  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

They  had  issue:  Claude  Xewton  Wise,  died  November 
29,  1887;  Florence  Wise,  died  January  12.  1914:  and 
Carrie  May  Wise. 

7.  Francis  Wise,  born  June  18.  1842:  died  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal..  in  1912.  Captain,  C.  S.  A.  Married  Emma 
Stewart,  of  Maryland,  and  had  Francis  Wise. 

8.  William  Newton  Wise,  born  August  6,  1844;  died  in 
Leesburg,  Va..  in  1915.  Clerk  of  Loudoun  County  Court 
for  manv  vears.  Soldier  in  Confederate  Army.  Alarried 
Ella,  daughter  of  Washington  Vandeventer,  and  had 
Jeannie  Stuart  Wise,  who  married  Dr.  William  Powell. 

9.  Mary  Ann  ^^'ise,  born  November  15.  1846.     Unmarried. 
10.  James    Cloud    \\'ise.    born    September    17,    1849.      Un- 
married.    Resident  in  Haymarket,  \a. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  a  grandson  of  William  Wise,  of  Acco- 
mack and  York  County,  was  named  Francis.  It  is  possible  the 
name  was  given  him  by  his  father.  John  Wise,  in  honor  of  John 
Francis  Makemie,  who  married  Francis  Wise's  first  cousin.  The 
names  Francis  and  John  Francis  also  appear  in  other  generations. 

The  descendants  of  William  Wise  of  the  second  generation 
have  been  known  as  the  Alexandria  Wises,  or  the  "Abingdon" 
Wises,  "Abingdon"  being  the  name  of  their  family  seat  for  many 
generations.  "Abingdon"  is  between  Alexandria  and  Wash- 
ington, and  is  the  birthplace  of  Nellie  Custis.  It  was  left  to 
George  Wise  by  Gerard  Alexander. 

We  now  return  to  \\'illiam  \\'ise  II.,  son  of  William  I.,  and 
grandson  of  Col.  John  Wise  I.  He  married  Sarah  Bonnewell, 
daughter  of  James  Bonnewell  and  j\Iary  Watson,  and.  as  we 
have  seen,  settled  in  Onancock  after  disposing  of  the  lands  he 
obtained  with  his  brother  from  their  father.  His  son  was 
William  E.  Wise,  who  married  Sarah  Evans,  daughter  of  Isaih 
Evans ;  and  their  son  was  Isaih  Evans  Wise,  who  married  Ann 
Abbgtt :  and  their  son  was  John  Evans  Wise,  born  at  Metompkin. 
June  5,  1816,  died  January  17.  1911,  who  married  Elizabeth 
Poulson,  of  Metompkin,  born  July  14,  1820,  died  November  16, 
1887,  the  daughter  of  Erastus  Poulson  and  Katie  Bagwell.  John 
Evans  Wise  and  Elizabeth  Poulson  had  lohn  Hastings  Wise,  late 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  61 

Clerk  of  the  Accomack  Court:  George  Douglas  Wise;  and 
William  Thomas  Wise,  born  at  Metompkin,  January  19,  1853, 
and  now  resident  in  Onancock. 

William  Thomas  Wise  married,  November  28,  1878,  Sadie 
Parker  Bagwell,  daughter  of  Healey  Parker  Bagwell  and  Sarah 
Edmunds,  and  they  had  : 

1.  EHzabeth  Bagwell  Wise,  born  January  13,  1881. 

2.  Henrietta  Sarah  Wise,  born  February  12,  1882. 

3.  Lucy  Parker  W^ise,  born  June  9,  1887. 

4.  Dorothy  Edmunds  Wise,  born  October  31,  1892. 

5.  John  Evans  Wise,  born  February  16,  1896. 

The  younger  John,  called  "Johannes  for  distinction  sake,"  and 
the  third  son  of  Col.  John  Wise  I.,  married,  first,  Frances 
Parker,  and,  second,  Abigail  Parker,  sisters,  and  daughters  of 
John  Parker  of  Mattapony,  and  his  wife,  Bridgett  Sacker. 
"Johannes"  I.  died  in  1741.  leaving  Thomas,  Matthew,  Ezekiel, 
Johannes  II.,  Joseph,  Tabitha.  who  married  Stockley,  and 
Drummond,  who  married  Simpson.    Of  these  children,  Johannes 

II.,  of  St.  George's  Parish,  Accomack,  married  Parker, 

and  died  in  1 798.  Their  issue  was :  John,  Rachel,  Rebecca, 
Frances,  Abigail,  Anne,  and  Bridgett.  the  last  being  dead  in  1798. 
Of  these  children,  John  married  Susannah,  and  he  is  supposed  to 
have  been  killed  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  John  and  Susannah 
had  issue :    Solomon,  Susan,  Elizabeth,  and  Anne. 

Solomon  Wise  fortunately  kept  a  record  of  his  children  in  a 
family  Bible,  pages  from  which  are  now  in  possession  of  Mrs. 
I.  L.  Sutherland,  of  Richmond,  his  great-granddaughter.  He 
was  born  December  24,  1771,  and  died  September  14,  1840.    He 

married,  first,  Susannah ,  who  died  September  15,  1810. 

He  married,  second,  March  30.  1820.  Anne  C.  Darby,  born 
March  4,  1786,  died  April  22.  1858,  the  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Darby,  of  Accomack  County,  and  Polly  Taylor.  By  his  first 
wife  Solomon  Wise  had  : 

1.  John  Parker  Wise,  born  January  11,  1794. 

2.  Henry  Wise,  born  March  22,  1796. 

3.  Thomas  Parker  Wise,  born  February  11,  1801. 

4.  Catherine  Wise,  born  October  27,  1799. 


62  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

5.  Major  Wise,  born  July  4.  1803. 

6.  George  H.  Wise,  born  July  4,  1806. 

7.  Susanna  Wise,  born  September  15,  1810. 

By  Anne  C.  Darby,  Solomon  W^ise  had : 

8.  Edward  Taylor  Wise,  born  October  25,  1821. 

9.  Benjamin  Darby  Wise. 

10.  William  Henry  Wise,  born  June  30,  1825. 

11.  Susan,  born  August  8,  1827;    died  1916.     Married  late 
in  life,  Thomas  W.  Ames  of  Accomack,  and  had  issue. 

Of  these  eleven  children,  four  left  descendants  of  the  name 
Wise. 

William  Henry  Wise,  Number  10  above,  was  born  June  30, 
1825,  and  died  October  9,  1894.  He  married,  November  14, 
1848,  Sarah  A.  Scarburgh,  born  January  6,  1826,  died  February 
16,  1881,  the  daughter  of  Americus  Scarburgh  and  Sarah 
Tunnell.     They  had  issue  : 

1.  William  Alpheus  Wise,  born  January  5,  1850;  died 
September  10,  1899;  married  December  17,  1873,  Emma 
Shepherd  Williams,  born  March  13,  1855,  the  daughter 
of  William  Nottingham  Williams  and  Virginia  Upshur, 
both  of  Northampton  County. 

2.  George  Orris  Wise,  born  February  18,  1852:  died 
August  31,  1861;   unmarried. 

3.  Emma  Scarburgh  Wise,  born  February  8.  1855  :  married, 
December  11,  1872,  Tapley  Portlock  of  Norfolk,  born 
January  1.  1849,  son  of  Hon.  Tapley  Portlock  and  Mar- 
garet Hodges.  They  now  reside  in  Knoxville,  Tenn., 
and  their  issue  is:  Clyde  Wise  Portlock,  Esq.,  of  the 
New  York  Bar.  born  September  17,  1873;  and  Alvah 
Taplev  Portlock,  born  November  26.  1877;  died  Mav 
15,  1906. 

4.  James  Bowdoin  Wise  of  Cheriton,  late  Treasvu'er  of 
Northampton  County,  born  No\ember  24.  1857;  mar- 
ried, December  16.  1880,  Adelaide  Spady  Downes,  born 
September  4,  1859,  died  May  5,  1914,  the  daughter  of 
Hon.  Thomas  A.  Downes  of  Northampton  County  and 
Arintha  Spady,  and  their  issue  is : 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  63 

1.  Roland  A.  Wise,  bom  October,  1881. 

2.  Emma  Portlock  Wise,  born  August  10,  1884. 

3.  Rosa  May  Wise,  born  June  20,  1889;  married, 
November  4,  1911,  George  William  Ames,  of  Balti- 
more Md.,  who  was  the  son  of  Henry  W.  Ames,  of 
Northampton  County,  and  they  had :  George  William 
Ames,  Jr.,  born  December  12,  1912:  Adelaide  Wise 
Ames,  born  September  25,  1915. 

4.  Lieut.  James  Bowdoin  \Mse,  Jr.,  born  January  24, 
1894,  who  was  graduated  from  the  Virginia  Military 
Institute  in  1914.  and  commissioned  lieutenant  in  the 
United  States  Army  in  1917. 

5.  Adelaide  Downes  W'ise,  born  November  24,  1895. 

6.  Thomas  Downes  Wise,  born  November  10,  1899. 

Thomas  Parker  Wise,  son  of  Solomon  Wise  and  Susanna,  was 
born  February  11,  1801:  died  1847:  married  Elizabeth  Ware, 
and  settled  in  \\'illiamsburg,  Va.,  where  he  is  buried  in  Bruton 
Parish  Church.  They  had:  Thomas  Parker  Wise,  died  young; 
Susanna,  who  married  Goodwin  late  in  life  and  left  no  issue; 
and  William  Henry,  christened  Henry  Alexander  Wise.  The 
last  named,  who  served  in  the  15th  Virginia  Infantry  during 
the  War.  was  born  January  1,  1842,  died  November  13,  1905, 
and  married.  April  9,  1867,  Ella  Thomas  Dunn,  of  King  and 
Queen  County,  and  the}-  had :  Sally  Aubrey  Wise,  born  in  Rich- 
mond, March  3,  1868,  who  married,  January  8,  1889,  Irvin  Lin- 
wood  Sutherland,  of  Richmond,  and  had  Henry  Wise  Suther- 
land, died  in  infancy:  Nellie  Cooper  Sutherland,  born  November 
4,  1889,  married  George  Scott  Barnard,  of  Norfolk;  Martha 
Wise  Sutherland,  born  December  27,  1891,  married  James  Rives 
Worsham,  of  Norfolk;  and  Irvin  Linwood  Sutherland,  Jr.,  born 
September  4,  1894. 

Major  Wise,  son  of  Solomon  W^ise  and  Susanna,  was  born 
May  16,  1803.  He  married  Margaret  Spiers  and  they  had  a  son, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Parker  Wise,  born  in  Northampton  County, 
October  13,  1833,  died  Richmond.  \^a..  June  11,  1897,  who 
married,  December  2,  1868.  Margaret  D.  Odell,  born  in  New 


64  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Kent  County,  November  18,  1845.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
James  Odell,  born  May  22,  1799.  died  November  13,  1849,  and 
Elizabeth  Tandy,  born  October  2,  1810,  died  August  10,  1882. 
They  had:  Rosa  Lee  Wise,  born  January  15,  1875,  died  August 
8,  1878;  Walter  Marvin  Wise,  born  July  25,  1876,  died  Septem- 
ber 2,  1877;  and  George  Edward  Wise.  Esq.,  born  in  New  Kent 
County,  April  2,  1870,  who  married.  November  6,  1902,  Julia 
Downer  Blanton,  daughter  of  Thomas  I.  Blanton  and  Elizabeth 
Timberlake.  He  is  now  Commonwealth  Attorney  of  Richmond, 
where  he  resides. 

Edward  Taylor  Wise,  son  of  Solomon  Wise  and  Ann  C.  Wise, 
was  born  October  25,  1821,  died  March  30.  1899.  and  married 
Mary  Parker  Guy,  born  September  25,  1825;  died  February  21, 
1886.  Their  son  is  Edward  Solomon  Wise,  of  Craddockville, 
born  at  Nandua,  September  26.  1848;  now  Commissioner  of 
Revenue  for  Accomack  County.  He  married  Elizabeth  Sarah 
Jacob,  born  December  1,  1851,  the  daughter  of  William  E.  Jacob, 
of  Pungoteague.  born  June  5,  1825,  died  August  21,  1886.  and 
Charlotte  A.  B.  Mears.  born  March  4,  1827;  died  September  2, 
1911.  Edward  Solomon  Wise  and  Elizabeth  Sarah  Jacob  had  a 
son,  Henry  Alexander  Wise.  Esq.,  born  at  Craddockville,  May 
15,  1877,  who  was  graduated  from  the  Virginia  Polytechnic 
Institute  with  the  degree  of  B.  S.  in  1898,  and  obtained  the 
degree  of  B.  L.  at  the  Central  University  of  Kentucky  in  1905. 
Since  1897  he  has  resided  in  Columbia,  S.  C,  w^here  he  is 
principal  of  the  High  School  and  Military  Instructor  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  South  Carolina. 

We  have  seen  that  Col.  John  Wise  I.  of  Accomack,  the 
immigrant,  named  two  sons  John,  the  second  being  "called 
Johannes  for  distinction  sake."  This  fact  suggests  that  there 
was  a  very  strong  family  reason  for  perpetuating  the  name  John, 
and  it  may  be  that  the  father  was  the  English  heir,  and  was 
desirous  of  more  clearly  identifying  his  title  by  the  certain 
perpetuation  of  his  name.  In  his  will,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
referred  to  his  property  in  England. 

The  elder  John,  whom  we  shall  call  Hon.  John  WMse  II.,  the 
numeral  indicating  merely  the  generation,  did  survive,  however, 
and  henceforth  this  work  will  be  devoted  to  his  descendants. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  65 

Hon.  John  Wise  II.  must  have  been  a  worthy  son  of  his  sire, 
for  he  married  his  first  cousin,  Matilda  West,  who  died  in  1722, 
daughter  of  Lieut. -Col.  John  West,  of  Northumberland  County, 
whose  father.  Anthony  West,  came  to  Virginia  in  the  James  in 
1622,  according  to  Hotten.  The  will  of  Anthony  West  is  dated 
October  12,  1651,  and  was  probated  ]\Iay  5,  1652.  By  his  wife, 
Ann,  he  had  issue,  a  daughter,  Katherine,  and  a  son,  Lieut. -Col. 
John  West,  who  married  Matilda  Scarburgh.  (See  Crozier's 
'A^irginia  Heraldica,"  p.  48.)  At  Onancock  is  the  tomb  of  Maj. 
Charles  West,  a  grandson  of  Lieut. -Col.  John  West,  and  upon  tlie 
slab  is  engraved  the  arms  of  the  Wests,  which  show  that  the 
Northumberland  \\'ests  and  the  Accomack  family  were  the  same. 

Arms  :    Argent,  on  a  fesse  dancette  sable,  three  leopard's 
faces  jessant  de  lis. 

In  1676,  ha\'ing  settled  in  Accomack.  Lieut. -Col.  John  West 
raised  and  commanded,  with  the  rank  of  major,  a  force  of  forty- 
four  men,  with  whom  he  served  under  Berkeley  against  Bacon, 
and  he  participated  in  the  Battle  of  Jamestown.  For  his  services 
the  Accomack  Court  approved  his  claim  against  the  General 
Assembly  for  12,200  pounds  of  tobacco.  In  1677  he  was 
promoted  lieutenant-colonel,  and  served  as  a  member  of  the 
court-martial  convened  by  Governor  Berkeley  to  try  the  rebels. 
In  1699  he  was  one  of  the  military  officers  of  Accomack  with 
rank  of  lieutenant-colonel. 

Lieut.-Col.  John  West,  father-in-law  of  John  Wise  II.,  was 
a  cousin  of  John  West.  Governor  of  Virginia,  of  Capt.  Francis 
West,  and  of  Thomas  West,  the  third  Lord  Delaware,  and  was, 
therefore,  of  royal  descent.  He  was  not  the  son  of  Capt.  John 
W'est,  who  represented  the  Eastern  Shore  in  the  Assemblies  of 
1629-30,  as  has  been  suggested,  but  was  the  son  of  Anthony 
\\'est  of  Accomack.  His  wife  was  a  first  cousin  of  Hon.  John. 
Wise  II..  who  married  his  daughter,  she  being  the  daughter  of 
Col.  Edmund  Scarburgh. 

Hon.  John  Wise  II.  died  in  1717.  He  resided  at  "Clifton" 
and  "Fort  George."  the  paternal  estates.  In  his  will,  which 
was  dated  March  27.  1717,  and  proved  in  the  Accomack  Court, 


66  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

May  7.  1717,  he  speaks  of  himself  as  "sick  and  weak."  The  will 
of  his  widow,  Matilda  West,  who  died  in  1722,  is  dated  Septem- 
ber 6,  1721,  and  was  proved  March  6,  1722. 

In  1682  the  Tobacco  Conspiracy,  headed  by  Maj.  Robert 
Beverley,  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  aroused  great  excite- 
ment in  the  Colony.  It  had  in  view  the  nullification  of  the  odious 
and  oppressive  Act  of  1680.  by  which  it  was  attempted  to  restrict 
the  shipment  of  tobacco  to  British  bottoms.  By  reason  of 
Beverley's  uncompromising  opposition  to  this  scheme  of  the 
British  Government,  he  has  been  characterized  as  a  martyr  in 
the  cause  of  political  liberty. 

If  the  Act  of  1682  seriously  affected  the  Colony  as  a  whole, 
it  bore  with  especial  hardship  upon  the  people  of  the  Eastern 
Shore,  for  in  no  other  quarter  was  "foreign  trade"  so  highly 
developed.  The  merchants  and  planters  of  Accomack  and  North- 
ampton had  long  maintained  a  brisk  trade  with  Holland  and  the 
West  Indies,  as  well  as  with  the  Dutch  colonies  to  the  north. 
Large  numbers  of  Hollanders  were  actually  settled  on  the  little 
peninsula.  Between  the  Dutch  and  the  Eastern  Shoremen  an 
intimate  relation  had  existed  for  years.  Indeed,  when  England 
declared  war  on  Holland  in  1652  and  prohibited  trade  between 
her  colonies  and  the  Dutch  of  New  Netherlands,  Col.  Edmund 
Scarburgh,  who  was  soon  thereafter  compelled  to  seek  temporary 
asylum  in  Manhattan  under  the  protection  of  his  friend.  Gov- 
ernor Stuyvesant.  effected  an  arrangement  with  the  Dutch  mer- 
chants, as  agent  for  the  Eastern  Shore  planters,  under  which  the 
former  were  able  to  procure  Accomack  tobacco  from  Smith's 
Island,  where  the  Eastern  Shoremen  were  directed  to  deposit  it 
for  transhipment.  The  Dutch  were  as  anxious  to  buy  as  the 
desperate  planters  were  to  sell,  and  so  that  inviting  retreat  of 
pirates — Smith's  Island — and  the  various  other  sea  islands 
fringing  the  coast  of  the  peninsula,  afforded  many  ports  for  the 
clandestine  tobacco  trade  between  the  Eastern  Shoremen  and  the 
Dutch,  that  thrived  in  spite  of  every  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
James  City  authorities  to  suppress  it. 

If  actual  war  between  England  and  Holland  could  not  disturb 
these  commercial  relations,  certain  it  was  that  a  mere  legislative 
inhibition  could  not  do  so.     The  people  of  the  Eastern  Shore 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AXD  DESCEXDAXTS  67 

protested  loudly  against  the  Act  of  1680,  and  continued  to  ship 
their  tobacco  as  before.  In  May,  1682,  after  vain  efforts  to  have 
the  odious  legislative  measures  repealed,  a  campaign  of  "tobacco 
cutting"  and  "night-riding"  was  instituted  in  various  sections  of 
the  Colony.  The  redoubled  efforts  of  the  Colonial  Government 
to  enforce  the  Act,  and  break  up  the  illicit  trading  of  the  Acco- 
mackians,  only  made  the  latter  more  determined  to  resist  the  law, 
with  the  result  that  so  many  plants  were  destroyed  in  the  beds 
the  entire  Accomack  crop  was  threatened.  Many  of  the  fore- 
most men  of  the  Colony  besides  Beverley  were  implicated  in  the 
conspiracy  to  nullify  the  Act  of  1680  by  striking  a  blow  at  the 
English  tobacco  market,  though  the  work  itself  seems  to  have 
been  left  to  the  younger  element  among  the  planter  class.  So  it 
was  that  John  Wise  II.,  who  was  certainly  not  much  beyond  his 
majority,  became  an  active  leader  in  the  conspiracy  on  the 
Eastern  Shore. 

Tobacco  cutting  went  so  far  that  the  Deputy  Governor  was 
finally  compelled  to  convene  the  Assembly  in  X^ovember,  and 
secure  the  passage  of  an  act  proscribing  the  guilty  and  making 
the  offense  high  treason.  Beverley  was  arrested  and  tried,  and 
Richard  Bayly,  of  Accomack,  was  condemned.  John  Wise  II. 
was  indicted  but,  fleeing  the  jurisdiction,  could  not  be  brought  to 
trial.  (Hening,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  545-547.)  In  May.  1683.  a 
proclamation  of  amnesty  was  published  by  the  Governor,  and  all 
the  offenders  under  the  Act  of  1680  were  pardoned,  except 
Beverley  and  a  few  others,  whereupon  John  W^ise  and  certain 
of  his  companions,  who  had  voluntarily  exiled  themselves,  re- 
turned to  their  homes.  There  was,  of  course,  no  moral  delin- 
quency attributed  to  the  conspirators  by  the  planter  class.  Those 
who  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  Government  were  regarded 
as  the  victims  of  tyranny,  but  until  of  late  it  was  believed  that 
John  Wise's  part  in  the  conspiracy  had  debarred  him  from  public 
office.  Perhaps  it  did  for  a  time.  Soon,  however,  the  influence 
of  his  father,  his  cousin.  Col.  Charles  Scarburgh  of  th<^  Council, 
his  father-in-law,  Lieut. -Col.  John  West,  and  of  his  family  in 
general,  reestablished  him  in  the  good  graces  of  the  Government, 
and  at  the  session  of  1705-6  he  represented  Accomack  in  the 
House  of  Burgesses. 


68  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Hening  does  not  give  a  list  of  Eastern  Shore  burgesses  for 
that  year,  nor  does  Stanard's  "Colonial  Register,"  but  the  re- 
cently published  "Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses"  shows  that 
John  Wise  was  a  burgess  in  1705. 

Hon.  John  Wise  II.  and  Matilda  West  had  six  children :  Col. 
John  Wise  III.,  Thomas,  Samuel,  Mary  Cade,  who  married  a 
Scarburgh,  Elizabeth,  and  Hannah. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  just  as  the  names  John  and  A\'illiam,  so 
common  in  the  Wise  family  in  England,  appeared  in  the  second 
A^irginia  generation,  so  the  equally  familiar  and  significant 
Christian  names  of  Thomas  and  Samuel  appeared  in  the  third 
generation ;  also  that  the  marriage  of  Mary  Cade  Wise  of  the 
third  generation  with  a  Scarburgh  marked  a  third  cross,  and 
the  marriage  of  Col.  John  III.  of  the  same  generation  with 
Scarburgh  Robinson,  marked  a  fourth  cross  with  the  Scarburgh 
blood  in  the  first  three  generations  of  the  family  of  Virginia. 
The  youngest  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Wise  II.  preserved  the 
name  of  her  grandmother,  Hannah  Scarburgh.  It  is  a  most 
significant  fact,  let  it  be  repeated,  that  the  same  Christian  names 
appear  among  the  children  and  the  grandchildren  of  John  \\^ise, 
the  immigrant,  that  are  to  be  noted  in  the  generation  of  the 
family  in  England,  of  which  he  is  supposed  to  be  a  member, 
namely,  John,  William,  Elizabedi,  Thomas,  and  Samuel. 

Col.  John  Wise  III.  and  his  descendants  are  given  in  Chapter 
IV.  Of  Mary  Cade  Wise  Scarburgh  the  writer  has  no  record, 
nor  of  Elizabeth  and  Hannah,  her  sisters,  and  Thomas  and 
Samuel,  her  brothers.  It  is  possible  that  Samuel  removed  to  the 
Carolinas  at  an  early  date,  for  there  are  many  Wises  to-day  in 
both  North  and  South  Carolina,  and  some  in  Texas,  that  the 
writer  is  unable  to  trace.  These  may  be  from  the  Pennsylvania 
or  German  Wises,  though  the  writer  has  no  reason  to  believe 
that  they  are.  One  Samuel  Wise,  of  South  Carolina,  held  a 
commission  as  captain  in  the  Continental  Army  in  1776-81. 
Samuel  Wise,  the  younger  brother  of  Col.  John  Wise  III.,  of 
Accomack,  who  died  in  1767,  might  well  ha\e  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Col.  John  Wise  III.  was  himself  a  young 
man  in  1767,  and  Samuel  was  even  younger. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Col.  John  Wise  III.    Robinson  Family. 


Col.  John  Wise  III.  married  his  double  second  cousin,  Scar- 
burgh  Robinson,  daughter  of  Col.  Tully  Robinson  and  Sarah 
West.  Sarah  West  was  his  maternal  aunt,  and  also  the  grand- 
daughter of  Col.  Edmund  Scarburgh.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  the 
children  of  Col.  John  Wise  III.  were  descended  along  three  lines 
from  Capt.  Edmund  Scarburgh.  father  of  Col.  Edmund  Scar- 
burgh. 

Col.  Tully  Robinson  was  the  son  of  Capt.  William  Robinson, 
Magistrate  of  Lower  Norfolk  County.  William  Robinson  was 
the  son  of  Benjamin  and  Elizabeth  Robinson,  of  Shadwell, 
England,  whose  daughter  married  Maj.-Gen.  John  Custis  of 
"Arlington."  Elizabeth  Robinson  of  Shadwell  refers  in  her  will 
to  her  grandson,  John  Custis.  There  was  a  John  Robinson  in 
Accomack  as  early  as  1651,  and  he  was  no  doubt  an  uncle  of 
Col.  Tully  Robinson.  John  Robinson  is  mentioned  in  the  records 
of  1651  as  an  experienced  Indian  fighter,  and  took  part  in  the 
Royalist  Revolt  of  1652. 

Col.  Tully  Robinson  was  a  magistrate,  and  a  colonel  of  militia 
in  Bacon's  Rebellion.  He  was  a  burgess  in  1699.  1702,  1714, 
1718,  1722,  1723,  and  other  years;  a  vestryman  of  St.  George's 
Church,  Pungoteague ;  and  prominent  for  many  years  in  the 
social  and  official  life  of  Accomack.  On  his  tombstone,  which 
may  be  seen  to-day  at  the  Poulson  Place  in  Onancock,  appears 
the  follow'ing  inscription : 


''Col.  Tully  Robinson, 

late   of   Accomack   Co.,   Va.,   who   was 

born  August  31,  1658.  and  departed 

November    12,    1723,   aged   65 

years  and  twenty  days. 

"A  gentleman  honorable,  an  ornament 
to  all  places.  He  was  loyal  to  his  prince, 
unshaken  to  his  friend,  and  a  true  be- 
liever in  the  Church  of  Ene^land." 


72  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

l^^rom  now  on  in  the  history  of  the  Wise  family  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  name  Tully  Robinson  Wise  is  only  equalled  in 
frequency  by  the  names  of  John  Wise  and  George  Douglas  Wise. 

Col.  John  Wise  III.  was  a  presiding  justice  of  Accomack. 
He  died  in  1767,  and  his  will,  dated  August  5.  1767,  and  proved 
August  26.  1767,  is  recorded  in  the  Accomack  Court.  He  had 
four  children:  Col.  John  Wise  IV.,  Tully  Robinson  Wise  I., 
Elizabeth  Cassandra,  or  "Cassia".  Wise,  and  Mary  Wise. 

Elizabeth  Cassandra,  or  "Cassia".  Wise  was  born  in  1728. 
She  married  Maj.  Thomas  Custis,  son  of  Col.  John  Custis  of 
^'Wilsonia."  died  in  1803,  and  is  buried  at  "Cliftoii."  Col.  W.  D. 
Waples  of  Delaware  is  descended  from  her.  (See  "Harrison 
and  Waples  Families,"  by  W.  W.  Harrison. ) 

Mary  Wise  married  a  Smith  and  had  two  daughters,  Eliza- 
beth and  Ann,  who  left  descendants.     (See  above  work.) 

The  descendants  of  the  two  sons  of  John  Wise  III. — Col. 
John  Wise  I\^  and  Tully  Robinson  Wise  I. — are  so  numerous 
that  they  will  be  traced  out  in  separate  chapters.  (See  Chapters 
V.  and  VIII.) 


CHAPTER  V. 
Col.  John  Wise  IV. 


Douglas,  Hill,  Drummond,  Gillett,  Parsons, 
CusTis,  Blackstone,  Nottingham,  Evans, 

POULSON,  AND  FLOYD  FAMILIES. 


Col.  John  Wise  IV.  was  born  at  "Clifton,"  July  27,  1723, 
and  died,  just  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the  American  Revolution, 
at  "Clifton,"  in  March,  1769,  two  years  after  the  death  of  his 
father.  His  will  is  recorded  in  the  Court  of  Accomack.  He 
was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  later  King's  Lieutenant,  with  the 
rank  of  colonel,  for  the  counties  of  Accomack  and  Norfolk.  In 
1756  he  bore  the  rank  of  major  in  the  Accomack  militia  and  was 
active  in  connection  with  raising  troops  for  the  Indian  wars  on 
the  frontier.  ( Hening,  Vol.  VII..  p.  200.)  He  married,  first, 
Elizabeth  Cable,  of  Hampton,  Va.,  who  was  born  September 
18,  1727,  and  died  December  27,  1753.  She  bore  him  the  fol- 
lowing children : 

1.  John  Wise,  born  October  30,  1749;    died  October  20, 
1760. 

2.  Ann  Wise,  who  married  Thomas  Parsons  of  Williams- 
burg, Va.,  and  had  issue : 

1.  Sally  Cable  Parsons,  spinster,  known  as  Aunt  Sally. 

2.  Esther  Parsons. 

3.  Nancy  Parsons. 

4.  Betsy  Parsons,  spinster. 

5.  Margaret  Wise  Parsons,  spinster. 

Esther  Parsons  married  Benjamin  Stratton  and  had  issue : 

1.  William  Douglas  Stratton. 

2.  Ann  Wise  Stratton. 

3.  Sally  Cable  Parsons  Stratton. 

Of  their  children  Ann  Wise  Stratton  married  William  Kennard 
and  had  issue : 

1.  William  Stratton  Kennard. 

2.  Sally  Stratton  Kennard. 

3.  Mary  Lane  Kennard. 

4.  Ann  Wise  Kennard. 

Sally  Stratton  Kennard  married  John  E.  Nottingham  and  had 
issue : 

1.  Henry  R.  Nottingham,  who  married  Mary  Murray. 


76  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

2.  Ann  Wise  Stratton  Nottingham,  who  married  Rev. 
Josiah  WilHam  Ware  and  had  WilHam  Ware,  John 
Nottingham  Ware,  JacqueHn  Ware. 

3.  Sally  B.  Nottingham. 

4.  Leonard  B.  Nottingham,  who  married  Caroline  Clark 
and  had  Lenora  Nottingham,  Robert  Lee  Nottingham, 
and  William  Kennard  Nottingham. 

Nancy  Parsons  married  Maj.  Thomas  Custis  and  had  issue 
Frances  Thomas  Custis,  who  married  John  Jones  and  had  issue : 

1.  Rev.  Custis  Parsons  Jones. 

2.  Ann  Sands  Jones. 

3.  Thomas  Cable  Jones. 

4.  Frances  Edith  Jones,  who  married,  first,  Col.  Joseph 
Stephens  and  had  Custis  Stephens  and  Joseph  F. 
Stephens ;  and,  second,  Capt.  Ladd  and  had  Ann  Ladd 
and  Louise  Ladd. 

The  second  wife  of  Col.  John  Wise  IV.  was  Margaret 
Douglas,  daughter  of  Col.  George  Douglas  and  Tabitha  Drum- 
mond,  whose  second  daughter.  Tabitha,  as  we  have  seen,  mar- 
ried Tully  Robinson  Wise,  the  brother  of  Col.  John  Wise  IV. 
(See  Chapter  VIII.) 

Margaret  Douglas,  called  "Peggy,"  was  born  in  1736,  and 
died  in  1808.  Her  father.  Col.  George  Douglas,  of  "Douglas 
Hall,"  Accomack  County,  was  a  Scotchman  of  gentle  birth,  and 
of  exceptional  character  and  attainments.  For  some  time  the 
writer  was  of  the  opinion  that  he  was  the  descendant  of  Col. 
Edward  Douglas,  Justice  of  the  First  Court  of  Northampton 
County,  which  held  its  first  meeting  July  18,  1642.  Col.  Edward 
Douglas  settled  near  the  lower  end  of  Magothy  Bay  in  1644. 
His  estate  was  granted  him  by  Governor  Morrison,  and  the 
patent  was  confirmed  by  Governor  Andros  to  his  nephew. 
William  Willett.  Col.  Edward  Douglas  commanded  the  district 
from  his  house  to  King's  Creek  and  Old  Plantation  Creek.  He 
was  a  Royalist  sympathizer,  and  a  Scotchman,  and  was  party  to 
the  revolt  against  Cromwell  in  1651-2.     In  1652  he  was  one  of 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  17 

the  justices  who  petitioned  the  Government  at  James  City  to 
provide  for  the  Dutch  inhabitants  of  Northampton,  whom 
Colonel  Scarburgh  was  conspiring  with  others  to  massacre  or 
drive  from  the  county,  because  it  was  alleged  the  Dutch  them- 
selves were  in  conspiracy  with  the  Indians  to  massacre  the 
English  and  seize  their  lands  for  Holland. 

The  researches  of  James  D.  Wise,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  have 
established  beyond  a  doubt,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  that  Col. 
George  Douglas  was  not  the  descendant  of  the  earlier  settler  in 
Accomack  of  that  name.  There  may  have  been  some  connection 
between  them,  but  this  does  not  appear  from  the  records. 

The  following  letter  from  James  D.  \\'ise  to  the  Rt.  Hon. 
Aretas  Akers-Douglas,  Viscount  Chilston.  Baron  Douglas  of 
Baads.  is  self-explanatory: 

25  Nov.,  1912. 
My  Lord  : 

I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you,  as  I  am  writing  in  regard 
to  a  matter  that  I  conceive  may  be  of  some  interest  to  you  as 
well  as  to  me. 

In  the  matriculation  album  of  the  University  of  Glasgow  for 
/// ?  is  the  following  entry  : 

"Georgius  Douglas  natu  minimus 
Domini  de  Badds." 

For  reasons  detailed  below  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
Georgius  Douglas  herein  mentioned  is  the  same  person  as  Col. 
George  Douglas,  of  the  County  of  Accomack  in  Virginia,  who 
died  in  1758.  It  occurred  to  me  that,  if  "Badds"  was  (as  I 
imagined  might  be  the  case)  merely  a  variant  form  of  Baads, 
then  you  would  be  very  likely  to  know  whether  my  conjecture 
was  correct. 

Of  Col.  George  Douglas  of  Virginia  I  have  the  following 
from  a  great-grandson:  "George  Douglas  was  a  student  at  one 
of  the  Scotch  universities,  'which  was  situate  in  a  large  seaport 
town.'  Fascinated  by  the  sailors'  stories  about  the  stirring  life 
on  the  Spanish  Main,  he  ran  away  from  college  and  shipped  for 
the  New  World.  Running  out  of  money,  he  indentured  himself 
to  the  master  of  a  sailing  vessel  bound  for  \^irginia.     There  he 


78  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

was  sold  to  the  overseer  of  a  large  plantation  in  the  County  of 
Accomack  (on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia),  and  sent  into 
the  fields  to  work.  The  overseer  came  into  the  field  some  hours 
later,  and,  finding  Douglas  sitting  on  a  fence,  angrily  ordered 
him  to  return  to  work.  He  accompanied  his  order  with  a  blow, 
and  was  immediately  knocked  down.  Thoroughly  enraged,  the 
man  reported  the  matter  to  the  owner  of  the  plantation,  Hill 
Drummond  by  name.  The  latter  sent  for  the  young  man  and 
asked  him  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  Douglas  told  him  that  he 
was  not  accustomed  to  manual  work,  and  shewed  him  his  hands, 
W'hich  were  terribly  blistered.  Colonel  Drummond  questioned 
him  as  to  his  past  circumstances,  and  tried  to  persuade  him  to 
return  home;  failing  in  this,  he  took  him  into  his  own  family 
and  made  him  tutor  to  his  children.  George  Douglas  afterwards 
married  one  of  Colonel  Drummond's  daughters,  and  eventually 
attained  much  prominence  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia." 

To  the  foregoing  I  may  add  that  Douglas  came  to  the  bar,  was 
King's  Attorney  for  Accomack,  and  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Burgresses  of  Virginia  for  many  years.  I  have  examined  the 
"Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses"  for  1742  and  subsequent 
years,  and  it  abundantly  appears  therefrom  that  he  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  body.  Colonel  Douglas 
owned  an  extensive  plantation  just  south  of  the  Maryland- 
Virginia  line,  and  built  there  a  house  called  Douglas  Hall.  By 
Tabitha  Drummond,  George  Douglas  had  two  sons,  James  and 
Walter,  and  five  daughters — Tabitha,  Margaret,  Elizabeth, 
Agnes,  and  Ann.  Walter  Douglas  died  unmarried,  but  James 
Douglas  married  and  left  a  son  James,  who  died  in  179-1 — 
apparently  without  issue.  The  male  line  here  ended,  but  four 
of  the  five  daughters  married,  and  have  numerous  descendants 
in  this  and  other  states. 

From  the  authorities  of  the  universities  of  Edinburgh  and  St. 
Andrews  I  learn  that  there  was  no  George  Douglas  at  either  in- 
stitution at,  or  about,  the  time  when  George  Douglas  of  Virginia 
imist  have  been  at  college.  Furthermore,  I  am  informed  by  the 
registrar  of  the  University  of  Glasgow  that  Georgius  Douglas, 
who  was  a  student  there  in  1713,  was  never  graduated.  (This 
would  accord  with  my  theory.  ) 

H  you,  sir,  can  give  me  any  information  as  to  what  became 
of  George  Douglas,  voungest  son  of  the  Lord  of  Baads,  and 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  79 

matriculant  at  the  University  of  Glasgow  in   1713,   I   shall  be 
much  indebted  to  you  if  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  do  so. 
With  apologies  for  trespassing  upon  your  time, 

I  am,  my  lord, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

&c.,  &c. 
The  Rt.  Hon.  \*iscount  Chilston. 

Replying  to  the  above  under  date  of  6  Feb.,  1913,  Lord 
Chilston  confirmed  the  conjecture  that  George  Douglas,  student 
at  Glasgow  in  1713,  was  a  younger  son  of  the  family  of  Douglas 
of  Baads.  He  sent  a  good  deal  of  information  about  his  family, 
and  added  by  way  of  comment :  'T  think  there  is  every 
probability  that  George  Douglas,  of  Accomack,  Virginia,  was 
the  twelfth  and  youngest  child  of  William  Douglas,  of  Baads, 
who  died  in  1705."  He  further  suggested  that,  as  Douglas  of 
Baads  then  held  estates  in  St.  Kitts  (in  the  West  Indies),  George 
Douglas  may  have  come  to  Virginia  from  that  island. 

A  few  interesting  facts  in  regard  to  Douglas  of  Baads — sup- 
plied in  large  measure  by  his  lordship — are  here  subjoined : 

The  Family  of  Douglas  of  Baads 

The  family  of  Douglas  of  Baads  is  said  to  be  a  cadet  line  of 
the  house  of  Douglas  of  Lochleven,  of  which  the  Earl  of  Morton 
is  chief.     Of  this  strain  was 

Leonard  Douglas,  Lord  of  Baads.     His  son, 

William  Douglas,  Lord  of  Baads,  married  Jean,  daughter  of 

Bruce  of  Clackmannan,  and  had : 
Joseph  Douglas,  Lord  of  Baads,  married  Beatrice  Broun. 

The  son  and  heir, 
James  Douglas,  Lord  of  Baads,  married  Jean,  daughter  of 

James  Sandilands,  of  Muirhousedykes,  and  had : 
William  Douglas,  Lord  of  Baads,  married  (3  March,  1665) 
Jean,  daughter  of  James  Mason,  of  Park  of  Blantyre, 
Esq.,    and    had    issue    seven    sons    and    five    daughters, 
namely : 

(a)   Walter  Douglas,  Colonel  in  the  British  Army,  and 
Governor-General  of  the  Leeward  Isles. 


80  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

(c)  James  Douglas,  M.  D.,  Queen's  Physician  in  London 
and  an  eminent  scientist.  (  See  Diet.  Nat.  Biogra- 
phy, s.  n.) 

(e)  WilHam  Douglas,  Colonel  in  the  British  Army. 
Married  his  cousin  Jean,  daughter  of  James  Douglas, 
of  Muirhousedykes. 

(f)  Joseph  Douglas. 

(j)  John  Douglas,  M.  D.  (See  Diet.  Nat.  Biography, 
s.  n.  ) 

Alexander  Douglas  (The  Rev.  ),  minister  at  Stirling 
and  East  Calder.  Married  Isabel,  daughter  of 
Andrew  Houstoun,  of  Calderhaugh. 

(k)  George  Douglas.  ("Settled  in  America." — Mar- 
ginal note  on  Lord  Chilston's  private  pedigree.) 

(b)   Jean,  married  J.  Stevenson,  of  Herdmonshields. 

(d)  Katharine,  married  Rev.  A.  ^Murray,  minister  of 
Stirling. 

(g)  Christian,  married  the  Rev.  John  Wilson,  minister 
of  Glencross. 

(h)   ^Margaret, 
(i)    Mary. 

From  the  foregoing  record  it  would  appear  to  be  reasonably 
certain  that  the  George  Douglas  who  migrated  to  America,  as 
noted  on  Lord  Chilston's  private  family  pedigree,  was  the  Col. 
George  Douglas  of  Accomack. 

It  should  here  be  noted  that  Dr.  James  Douglas,  the  supposed 
brother  of  Col.  George  Douglas,  was  the  most  celebrated  phy- 
sician of  his  time.  His  discoveries  marked  radical  advances  in 
the  medical  science,  and  his  scientific  works  are  authoritative  at 
this  time.  It  is  said  that  he  made  the  most  exhaustive  variorum 
edition  of  Horace  ever  published.  Pope  refers  to  him  in  the 
Dunciad. 

Col.  George  Douglas  was  undoubtedly  the  leading  lawyer  of 
Accomack  in  his  day.  He  was  King's  Counsel,  and  a  burgess 
for  thirty-two  years.  He  died  in  1758.  Some  of  his  law  books 
were  inherited  by  Maj.  John  Wise  V.,  his  grandson,  and  were 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  81 

handed  down  to  the  late  John  Sergeant  Wise,  including  a  set  of 
English  Reports,  a  Natura  Brevinm  of  the  first  edition,  and  a 
"Coke  on  Littleton,"  printed  in  1629. 

Col.  George  Douglas,  of  "Douglas  Hall,"  Accomack,  Virginia, 
married  Tabitha  Drummond  and  had  issue : 

(a)  James  Douglas,  who  married ,  and  had  issue 

James  (died  1794). 

(b)  Walter  Douglas,  died  unmarried  in  1760. 

(a)  Tabitha,  married  Tully  Robinson  Wise,  of  Deep  Creek. 

(b)  Elizabeth,  married  Skinner  Wallop,  of  Horntown,  and 
had  issue  Isabel,  Margaret,  and  Mary. 

(c)  Margaret,  married   (1)  Col.  John  Wise,  of  "Clifton" 
and  "Fort  George";    and  (2)  Ayres  Gillett. 

(d)  Agnes,  married  (1)  James  Rule,  and  (2)  Col.  Edward 
Parrish. 

(e)  Ann,  died  unmarried. 

It  is  significant  that  Colonel  Douglas  named  his  two  sons  after 
his  two  eldest  brothers.  Walter  and  James,  and  a  daughter, 
Margaret,  after  a  sister. 

Tabitha  Drummond.  the  wife  of  Col.  George  Douglas,  was 

the  daughter  of  Hill  Drummond  and  Sabra  — — — .     Hill 

Drummond  was  the  son  of  John  Drummond.  whose  wife  was 
the  daughter  of  Richard  and  Eleaner  Hill. 

Richard  and  Eleaner  Hill  came  to  Accomack  with  the  Rev, 
William  Cotton,  of  Bunbury,  Cheshire,  England,  before  1632, 
for  Cotton  was  minister  of  Accomack  when  the  court  was  estab- 
Hshed  in  1632.  On  July  10,  1637,  Cotton  patented  350  acres  of 
land  between  the  Horns  of  Hungar's  Creek  (Eastyille),  adjoin- 
ing the  tract  of  Capt.  William  Stone;  100  acres  due  for  personal 
adventure  of  himself  and  wife,  and  250  acres  for  the  transporta- 
tion of  himself  and  five  persons,  including  Richard  and  Eleaner 
Hill.  (Va.  Land  Abstracts.  Va.  Mag.  Hist.  &  Biog.,  Vol.  II., 
p.  95,  et  seq.) 

Mention  is  made  in  the  early  records  of  an  altercation  between 
Richard  Hill  and  Debedeavon,  the  Indian  King,  and  brother  of 


82  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Kictopeake.  Hill,  it  seems,  drove  the  King  off  his  lands  at  the 
point  of  a  gun,  and  the  latter  complained  to  the  court  that  he  was 
being  hindered  in  his  hunting ! 

In  1651  Hill  was  one  of  a  band  who  accompanied  Colonel 
Scarburgh  on  an  unauthorized  punitive  expedition  against  the 
Indians;  in  1652  he  took  part  in  Scarburgh's  RoyaHst  Revolt 
against  Cromwell;  in  1653  x^ndiamon.  King  of  the  Occahan- 
nocks  and  Curratucks,  complained  that  Hill  had  not  paid  for  the 
lands  he  had  taken  possession  of  from  the  Indians ;  he  was  a 
vestryman  in  1662;  was  a  justice  of  Accomack  in  1676;  and  a 
captain  in  the  militia  in  1699.  His  estate  lay  along  Occahannock 
Creek,  and  he  was  probably  in  the  employ  of  Colonel  Scarburgh 
for  a  number  of  years.  There  is  some  evidence  that  suggests 
that  he  was  manager  at  one  time  of  Scarburgh's  plantation  at 
Occahannock.  The  fact  that  he  and  his  wife  accompanied  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Cotton  to  Virginia  does  not  mean  that  he  was  of  the 
servant  class.  His  subsequent  career  denies  that  idea.  Persons 
who  were  really  servants  were  generally  listed  as  such  in  the 
immigration  and  land  patent  records.  Colonists  who  migrated 
to  Virginia  frequently  made  up  a  party  and  contracted  with  some 
of  the  members  thereof  who  could  not  afford  to  pay  their  passage, 
to  bear  the  expense  of  the  xoyage.  In  consideration  of  the  neces- 
sary money  advances  the  persons  thus  transported  made  over 
to  the  person  advancing  the  costs  their  right  as  colonists  to  fifty 
acres  each.  In  such  case  the  organizer  or  leader  of  the  group 
patented  land  for  himself  and  fifty  acres  for  each  person  trans- 
])orted  bv  him.  Young  men  of  noble  blood  are  known  to  have 
\entured  forth  upon  just  such  terms,  and  there  are  even  well- 
authenticated  cases  of  such  men  having  been  listed  as  servants, 
because  they  were  bound  to  their  "transporter"  for  the  expense 
of  the  journey. 

When  in  1686  the  people  of  Accomack  County  petitioned  for 
the  erection  of  a  new  courthouse,  more  conveniently  situated 
than  the  old  one  at  Onancock,  a  site  was  selected  on  the  land 
of  Richard  Drummond,  brother  of  Tabitha  Drummond,  because 
it  was  midway  between  the  sea  and  the  bay.  The  town  which 
soon  sprang  up  about  the  new  courthouse  was  called  Drummond- 
town  after  Hill  Drummond,  father  of  Richard  and  Tabitha.  Hill 
Drummond  died  in  1728. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  83 

Before  considering  her  children  by  Colonel  Wise,  it  should  be 
recorded  that  Margaret  Douglas  survived  her  first  husband  and 
married  Ayres  Gillett,  wherefore  she  was  known  as  "Peggv" 
Gillett  at  the  time  of  her  death.  She  is  buried  at  "Clifton."  She 
died  in  1808.  Her  husband  continued  to  dwell  at  "CHfton"  with 
her  daughters,  Mary  Wise  and  Elizabeth  (Wise)  Outten,  and 
he  was  known  by  them  as  "Uncle  Gillett."  He  became  for  a 
while  the  legal  guardian  of  Henry  Alexander  and  John  Cropper 
Wise,  grandsons  of  his  wife  by  her  first  marriage. 

By  her  second  husband  Margaret  Douglas  had  issue  George 
Gillett,  Tabitha  Gillett,  and  William  Gillett^  Tabitha  Gillett  mar- 
ried John  Custis  and  had :  (1)  Thomas  Custis.  who  married  Eliza 
Scarburgh,  who  had  John  Wise  Custis,  and  Thomas  E.  C.  Custis. 
who  married  Elizabeth  Finney  and  had  Edward  Custis.  Elizabeth 
and  Margaret  Custis,  and  Florence  Custis,  who  married  John 
Gunter;  (2)  John  Custis;  (3)  Margaret  Custis,  who  married 
Turner;  (4)  William  Samuel  Custis,  who  married  Eleanor 
Wise;  (5)  James  W.  Custis,  who  married  Margaret  Bayly, 
and  had:  1.  Catherine  Wharton  Custis;  2.  Margaret  Tabitha 
Custis,  who  married  Charles  Collins  Hansford  and  had  :  1.  James 
Custis  Hansford,  and  2.  Richard  \\'ynne  Hansford.  3.  Elizabeth 
Fisher  Custis,  who  married  Rev.  T.  M.  Ambler;  and  4.  Florence 
Custis,  who  married  E.  P.  Cole  and  had  Elizabeth  Read  Cole, 
Margaret  Custis  Cole.  Robert  Francis  Cole,  and  Florence  Custis 
Cole;  and  (6)  Catherine  Custis.  who  married  Hon.  Robert 
Poulson  and  had:  1.  Catherine  Custis  Poulson.  who  married 
Corbin  Fletcher  and  had  Robert  P.  Fletcher ;  2.  Elizabeth  Poul- 
son. 3.  Mary  Poulson,  4.  James  Poulson,  5.  John  Poulson.  6. 
Robert  Poulson.  7.  Sarah  Poulson.  8.  Charlotte  Poulson,  who 
married  Cornelius  T.  Taylor  and  had  Robert  P.  Taylor  and 
Catherine  Taylor.  Robert  P.  Taylor  married  Helen  Stimson 
and  had  Helen  and  Robert,  and  Catherine  Taylor,  who  married 
Edwin  Goffigan. 

\\'illiam  Gillett.  the  second  son  of  Avres  Gillett  and  Margaret 
Douglas,  the  widow  of  John  Wise,  had  issue : 

1.  Mary  S.  Gillett. 

2.  Sarah  T.  Gillett.  who  married  Coventon  H.  Cropper. 


84  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

3.  Margaret  D.  Gillett,  who  married  John  J.  Blackstone  and 
had  issue  Henrietta  D.  Blackstone,  who  married  Dr. 
Geo.  T.  Scarburgh  and  had  issue :  Daisy,  Mary,  Thomas, 
Elizabeth,  Robert,  Belle  Joynes,  and  Henrietta. 

4.  Judge  John  Wise  Gillett. 

5.  Elizabeth  D.  Gillett,  who  married  John  J.  Blackstone  and 
had :  John  Wise  Gillett  Blackstone,  Thomas  W.  Black- 
stone, and  Margaret  D.  Blackstone,  who  married  W.  T. 
Bell. 

6.  Henrietta  Gillett. 

7.  James  W.  D.  Gillett. 

8.  George  Douglas  Gillett. 

9.  Annie  S.  Gillett,  who  married  Dr.  James  H.  Parker  and 
had :  Henrietta  Gillett  Parker,  George  Douglas  Parker, 
Sarah  T.  Parker,  and  William  T.  Parker. 

We  now  return  to  the  descendants  of  Col.  John  Wise  IV.  and 
Margaret  Douglas.  They  had  four  children :  Elizabeth,  Mary, 
Dr.  Tully  Robinson  Wise  IV.,  and  Maj.  John  Wise  V. 

Elizabeth  Wise  was  born  March  4,  1758,  and  died  unmarried 
in  1842.  She  and  her  sister  Mary,  who  married  an  Outten  and 
was  early  widowed,  lived  with  their  brother  Maj.  John  Wise  V. 
at  "Clifton."  Mary  Wise's  son,  John  Wise  Outten  (1785- 
1805),  is  buried  at  "Clifton."  We  are  told  that  these  two  sisters 
were  very  superior  women. 

Mary  Wise  Outten,  born  1762,  died  1822,  is  described  as  "one 
of  the  finest  and  most  dignified  ladies,  of  the  most  sweet  yet 
austere  manners  and  morals  .  .  .  "  Of  her  Thomas  R. 
Joynes,  Clerk  of  the  County  Court,  wrote  that  he  would  rather 
have  her  opinion  upon  a  business  matter  than  that  of  any  man 
in  the  countv.  She  and  her  sister  managed  the  "Clifton"  planta- 
tion and  illustrated  the  familiar  saying  that  the  greatest  slave 
upon  a  Southern  plantation  was  the  mistress.  "Clifton"  is 
situated  about  two  miles  from  the  north  of  Chesconnessex  Creek, 
where  it  empties  into  the  Chesapeake,  and  about  six  miles  west 
of  Drummondtown.  Ten  miles  distant  is  Tangier  Island,  which 
was  occupied  by  the  British  fleet  under  Cockburn,  in  1814.  and 
from  which  the  morning  and  evening  guns  of  the  enemy  greeted 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCEXDANTS  85 

the  ears  of  the  two  sisters,  who  remained  steadfast  in  their 
exposed  home  throughout  the  War  of  1812,  in  spite  of  numerous 
raids  of  the  British  upon  the  main  all  about  them. 

For  a  description  of  Mary  Wise  Outten  see  "Portrait  Gallery 
of  Distinguished  American  Statesmen,"  by  William  H.  Brown. 

A  portrait  of  Elizabeth  Wise,  known  in  the  family  as  Aunt 
"Betsey,"  is  in  existence,  and  is  owned  by  her  great  nephews, 
the  sons  of  John  Cropper  Wise. 

Dr.  Tully  Robinson  Wise  IV.  of  "Holly  Grove"  (near  Frank- 
town,  Accomack  County),  elder  son  of  Col.  John  Wise  IV., 
married  the  widow  Fisher,  nee  Mary  White.  They  had  three 
children:  1.  Eleanor  Wise,  2.  Marv  Wise,  and  3.  Tully  Robinson 
Wise  V. 

1.  Eleanor  Wise  married  William  Samuel  Custis  and  had 
issue : 

1.  William  P.  Custis,  who  married  Eliza  Horsey  and 
had:  1.  Jane  Eliza,  2.  William  Beauregard,  3.  Sarah 
Horsey,  4.  Clara  Douglas.  5.  Lena  Wise,  and  6. 
Marion. 

2.  Edward  P.  Custis,  who  married  Susan  Parker  and 
had  Elizabeth  Wise  Custis. 

3.  James  Custis. 

4.  Robert  P.  Custis,  who  married  Sarah  S.  Parker  and 
had:    1.  Clarence,  and  2.  John  William. 

5.  Harry  Custis,  who  married  Maggie  Custis  and  had: 
1.  Annie,  and  2.  John  Wise. 

2.  Mary  Wise,  second  daughter  of  Dr.  Tully  Robinson 
Wise  IV.,  married  Samuel  Littleton  Floyd,  and  their 
daughter,  Ellen  Floyd,  married  Leonard  J.  Nottingham 
and  had  issue : 

1.  Sydney,  2.  Ida,  3.  Herbert,  who  married  Maggie 
Savage,  4.  George,  5.  William  Floyd,  6.  Nellie, 
7.  Robert,  8.  Maria,  and  9.  Gill  Nottingham. 

3.  Tully  Robinson  Wise  V.,  the  only  son  of  Dr.  Tully 
Robinson  Wise  IV.,  was  born  at  "Holly  Grove,"  October 

2,  1808,    and   died    February   26,    1866.      He   married, 
November  19,   1834.  Anne  Kitson  Evans,  the  daughter 


86  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

of  John  R.  Evans  and  Margaret  Jacob.  John  R.  Evans 
was  the  eldest  son  of  Hon.  Thomas  Evans  of  Accomack, 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  and  a  prominent  Federahst. 
Anne  Kitson  Evans  was  born  January  24,  1812,  and 
died  February  15.  1901. 

Tully  Robinson  Wise  V.  and  Anne  Kitson  Evans  had  issue : 

1.  Annie  Kitson  Wise,  born  December  11,  1836;  died 
September  11,  1842. 

2.  Tullv  Robinson  Wise  VI.,  born  August  15,  1839;  died 
Aprd  25,  1842. 

3.  Isabel  Evans  Wise,  born  February  29,  1844,  who  mar- 
ried, July  22,  1908,  Judge  Gilmor  Smith  Kendall,  who 
died  July  9,  1912.     She  now  resides  in  Eastville. 

4.  Anne  Kitson  Wise,  born  January  16,  1847;  died  August 
26,  1909.  She  married  Dr.  Severn  Parker  Nottingham, 
of  Eastville,  June  22,  1870,  w^ho  was  the  son  of  Leonard 
Bell  Nottingham  and  Emeline  Waddy,  and  had  issue : 

1.  Katherine  Teackle  Nottingham,  born  May  24,  1871; 
died  November  17,  1872. 

2.  Isabel  Wise  Nottingham,  born  July  22,  1874. 

3.  Robinson  Nottingham,  born  April  25,  1876.    Married, 
April  10,  1901,  Louise  Jarvis  and  has  issue: 

1.  Jennings  Wise  Nottingham,  born  January  26,  1902. 

2.  Robinson  Nottingham,  born  October  6,  1903. 

3.  Elizabeth  Jarvis  Nottingham,  born  September  22, 
1905. 

4.  Jennings  Wise  Nottingham,  born  November  16,  1879. 

5.  John  Sergeant  Wise  Nottingham,  born  December  5, 
1881. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Major  John  Wise  V. 


Henry,  Cropper,  Corbin,  Bowman,  Custis,  Michael, 
Thorogood,  Pettitt,  and  Bayly  Families. 


The  exact  date  of  ]Maj.  John  Wise's  birth  is  not  known.  He 
was  younger  than  his  sisters  EHzabeth  and  Mary,  who  were  born 
in  1758  and  1762,  respectively,  and  he  must  have  been  born 
before  1769,  for  that  year  his  father  died.  Assuming  that  he 
was  born  between  1763  and  1769.  he  was  between  fifty  and 
fifty-five  when  he  died  in  1812.  We  know  that  he  was  not  an 
old  man  at  the  time  of  his  death.  W^e  also  know  that  he  was 
too  young  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  but 
he  was  enrolled  in  the  Accomack  ]\lilitia.  for  a  John  Wise  ap- 
pears on  the  rolls,  and  there  was  no  other  John  Wise  living 
between  1776  and  1782.  The  only  other  John  Wise  of  the  fifth 
generation  was  his  older  brother,  who  died  in  1760 — age  eleven 
years.  ("Revolutionary  Soldiers  of  Virginia,"  Eckenrode,  p. 
479.)  He  must  have  been  a  mere  lad  at  the  time  of  his  enlist- 
ment, for  he  could  not  have  been  over  seventeen  in  1776;  and 
was  probably  not  much  over  that  age  in  1782,  when  the  war 
ended.  His  title  of  major  was  derived  from  a  commission  which 
he  later  held  in  the  Virginia  jMilitia,  and  of  which  he  was  ever 
very  proud. 

That  he  was  an  ardent  patriot  can  not  be  doubted,  for  his 
family  was  loyal  to  Washington.  His  first  cousin,  Tully  Wise, 
who  died  in  1817,  and  who  was  the  only  male  member  of  the 
family  beside  John  Wise,  of  military  age  during  the  Revolution, 
was  also  a  patriot  and  soldier.  ("Revolutionary  Soldiers  of 
Virginia,"  Eckenrode,  p.  479.) 

It  might  be  said  tliat  thousands  of  men  who  were  at  heart 
Tories  were  drafted  into  the  militia,  and  that,  therefore,  the 
mere  appearance  of  his  name  on  the  County  jNIilitia  rolls  does 
not  establish  Major  Wise's  sentiments,  but  there  are  at  least 
four  other  facts  that  do. 

About  1788  INlajor  \\'ise  married  the  daughter  of  a  former 
and  distinguished  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  with 
whom  he  was  closely  affiliated  in  politics.  This  is  the  first  evi- 
dence of  his  political  sentiments. 

After  naming  his  first  child,  who  was  born  in  1789.  John 
Henry,  after  himself  and  his  wife's  father — Judge  James  Henry, 


90 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


the  patriot — he  named  his  second  child,  born  in  1800,  WiUiam 
Washington,  as  evidence  of  liis  devotion  to  the  patriot  father. 

When  lie  married  his  second  wife,  in  1799,  Major  Wise  was 
the  head  of  his  family.  It  is  nnthinkable  that  Gen.  John  Cropper, 
the  foremost  patriot  of  Accomack,  and  a  man  who  hated  Tories 
and  Toryism  with  a   bitterness  verging  on    fanaticism,   would 


MAJOR  JOHN   WISE 
Speaker  Virginia   House   of   Delegates,   '98-9 


have  welcomed   Major  W^ise   as  a  son-in-law   had  he  and  his 
family  not  established  their  patriotism  beyond  a  doubt. 

The  fourth  fact  referred  to  is  that  immediately  after  the  war, 
when  the  government  was  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  successful 
revolutionists,  and  while  a  very  young  man,  he  became  justice 
of  the  peace,  an  office  of  great  dignity  and  responsibility  under 
the  old  judicial  system.     Had  he  not  been  of  the  then  popular 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  91 

partv  he  would  never  have  been  appointed  to  this  office  in  a 
county  of  which  Cropper  was  the  poHtical  leader,  and  where 
hostility  to  Toryism  was  as  intense  as  in  any  section  of  America, 
due  to  the  suffering  which  had  been  inflicted  upon  the  people 
bv  the  innumerable  marauding  expeditions  of  the  British  upon 
the  exposed  peninsula.  That  Major  Wise  and  General  Cropper 
were  the  foremost  men  of  Accomack  during  the  critical  period 
between  1783  and  1812  can  not  be  doubted. 

Like  his  grandfather.  Col.  George  Douglas,  Maj.  John  Wise 
was  educated  to  the  legal  profession,  but  inheriting  a  large 
estate  from  his  father,  he  combined  planting  with  the  practice  of 
law.  Owning  a  large  landed  estate,  and  a  number  of  slaves, 
he  was  reputed  to  be  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  of  Virginia,  and 
the  fruit  of  a  lucrative  practice  added  to  his  inheritance  made 
him  the  wealthiest  man  on  the  Eastern  Shore.  A  man  of  high 
character  and  intelligence,  greatly  beloved  by  the  people  of  his 
native  county,  he  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those  men  to  whom 
the  members  of  a  community  naturally  turn  for  guidance  and 
advice.  An  original  miniature  of  him  is  extant  and  shows  him 
to  have  been  a  handsome  man,  with  large,  intelligent  brown  eyes, 
gentle  expression  of  countenance,  and  clear-cut  features.  He  is 
dressed  after  the  fashion  of  the  period,  with  high-collared  blue 
coat,  stock  and  muslin  shirt,  and  powdered  hair,  queued  behind. 
This  miniature  is  now  (1916)  in  possession  of  his  aged  grand- 
son— John  Henry  Wise,  of  San  Francisco,  Cal.  It  has  been 
copied  in  oils  a  number  of  times. 

Maj.  John  Wise  was  a  Washingtonian  Federalist  in  politics, 
of  the  most  pronounced  type,  and  represented  the  County  of 
Accomack  in  the  House  of  Delegates  for  about  ten  years,  begin- 
ning in  1790.  At  the  sessions  of  1794-5-6-7  he  was  elected 
Speaker  of  that  body,  and  the  year  following,  at  the  noted 
session  in  which  was  passed  the  celebrated  resolutions  of  1798, 
which  were  so  strongly  anti-Federalist,  he  was  chosen  speaker 
over  Wilson  Cary  Nicholas,  a  Republican  and  favorite  of  Jeffer- 
son. The  personnel  of  the  House  at  this  time  is  strong  evidence 
of  the  ability  of  Major  Wise.  The  circumstance  of  his  success 
aroused  the  indignation  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  roundly  abused 
those  of  his  followers  who  had  forgotten  their  party  allegiance 


92  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

at  such  a  time  and  voted  for  a  Federalist.  He  referred  to  Wise's 
followers  as  Tories,  for  which  remark  John  Wise  is  said  to  have 
challenged  him  to  fight  a  duel,  but  the  challenge  was  not  accepted 
by  Mr.  Jefferson.  That  General  Cropper  strongly  supported 
Major  Wise  in  his  resentment  of  Jefferson's  unwarranted  attack 
can  not  be  doubted,  but  it  is  not  a  matter  of  documentary  record 
that  a  challenge  passed.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  seem  that 
Major  Wise  called  on  Mr.  Jefferson  for  an  explanation,  which 
was  promptly  given.  In  the  papers  of  James  McHenry,  Secretary 
of  War  under  Washington  and  Adams,  was  found  the  following 
letter  in  which  Mr.  Jefferson  is  said  to  have  forecast  for  the 
first  time  the  fonnation  of  the  Democratic  Part  v. 

Thos.  Jefferson  to  John  Wise. 

Philadelphia,  February  12,  1798, 
Sir: 

I  have  duly  received  yours  of  the  28.  ulto.,  mentioning  that  it 
had  been  communicated  to  you,  that  in  a  conversation  in  Francis's 
Hotel  (where  I  lodged)  I  had  spoken  of  you  as  of  Tory  politics 
&  you  made  inquiry  as  to  the  fact  &  the  "Idea  intended  to  be 
conveyed"  ...  I  shall  answer  you  with  frankness :  It  is 
now  well  understood  that  two  political  Sects  have  arisen  within 
the  U.  S. ;  the  one  believing  that  the  Executive  is  the  branch  of 
our  government  which  most  needs  support ;  the  other  that  like 
the  analagous  branch  in  the  English  Government,  is  already  too 
strong  for  the  republican  parts  of  the  Constitution,  and  there- 
fore in  equivocal  cases,  they  incline  to  the  legislative  powers ;  the 
former  of  these  are  called  Federalists,  sometimes  Aristocrats  or 
monocrats  and  sometimes  Tories,  after  the  corresponding  sect,  in 
the  English  Government  of  exactly  the  same  definition:  the 
latter  are  till  republicans,  whigs,  Jacobins,  i\narchists,  dis- 
organisers,  &c.,  these  terms  are  in  familiar  use  with  most  persons, 
and  which  of  those  of  the  first  class  I  used  on  the  occasion  alluded 
to,  I  do  not  particularly  remember ;  they  are  well  understood  to 
designate  persons  who  are  for  strengthening  the  Executive  rather 
than  the  legislative  branches  of  the  government,  but  probablv  I 
used  the  last  of  these  terms  and  for  these  reasons :  both  parties 
claim  to  be  Federalists  and  Republicans,  and  I  believe  with  truth 
as  to  the  great  mass  of  them :  these  appellations  therefore  desig- 
nate neither  exclusively  and  all  the  others  are  Slanders,  except 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  93 

those  of  Whig  and  Tory  which  alone  characterize  the  distin- 
guishing principles  of  the  two  sects  as  I  have  before  explained 
them ;  as  they  have  been  known  and  named  in  England  for  more 
than  a  century :  and  as  they  are  growing  into  daily  use  here  with 
those  whose  respect  for  the  right  of  private  judgment  in  others 
as  well  as  themselves  does  not  permit  them  to  use  the  other  terms 
which  either  imply  against  themselves  or  charge  others  in- 
juriously ...  I  remark  with  real  Sensibility  the  Sentiments 
of  esteem  you  are  pleased  to  express  for  my  character,  and  do 
not  suffer  myself  to  believe  they  will  be  lessened  by  any  difference 
which  may  happen  to  exist  in  our  political  opinions  if  any 
there  are. 

The  most  upright  and  conscientious  characters  are  on  both 
sides  of  the  question,  and  as  to  myself  I  can  say  with  truth 
that  political  tenets  have  never  taken  away  my  esteem  for  a 
moral  and  good  man :  on  this  head  I  have  never  uttered  a  word 
or  entertained  a  thought  to  your  prejudice,  and  even  as  to 
politics,  I  could  say  nothing  as  you  must  be  sensible,  but  only 
from  the  information  of  others,  having  understood  on  different 
occasions  that  on  public  questions  you  have  generally  concurred 
with  those  who  were  on  the  side  of  executive  powers ;  if  in  this 
I  have  been  misinformed  I  shall  with  pleasure  correct  the  error; 
if  otherwise  your  conviction  of  the  solidity  of  your  opinions 
will  render  it' satisfactory  to  you  that  they  have  not  been  mis- 
taken— this  is  the  sentiment  which  each  side  entertains  of^  its 
own  opinions  and  neither  thinks  them  the  subject  of  imputation. 
I  am  really  sorry  that  any  one  should  have  found  gratification 
in  paining' you  or  myself  by  such  a  communication;  the  cir- 
cumstance took  place  in  a  familiar  conversation  with  a  gentle- 
man, who  with  myself,  messed  together  every  day  at  our  lodg- 
ings and  was  therefore  the  less  guarded,  and  I  do  not  recollect 
that  there  was  a  person  present  but  of  our  ordinary  society :  the 
occasion  too  was  as  clear  of  exception  being  used  in  proof  how 
little  of  party  spirit  there  is  in  Virginia,  and  how  little  it  in- 
fluences public  proceedings,  and  so  transient  withal,  that  I  dare 
sav  it  has  not  been  since  thought  of  nor  repeated  but  to  yourself ; 
with  what  view  is  not  for  me  to  consider.  I  have  thought  I 
owed  to  your  private  and  public  character  this  candid  declaration, 
and  I  have  no  fear  you  will  mistake  the  motives  which  lead  to  it. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  grt  Respect  Sir  yr  most  obedt 

^^^^'^  Th  :  Jefferson. 


94  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

The  year  following,  on  account  of  his  opposition  to  the  Reso- 
lutions of  '98,  Major  Wise  was  defeated  for  the  speakership 
by  Larkin  Smith,  of  King  and  Queen  County,  and  shortly  after 
this  he  retired  from  public  life. 

It  should  here  be  recalled  that  no  real  relation  existed  between 
Federalism  and  Toryism.  After  the  Revolutionary  War  a  dis- 
tinct reaction  against  liberalism  set  in  among  the  conservative 
element  of  Virginia,  who  were  especially  numerous  in  the  tide- 
water section.  It  was  in  the  younger  sections  of  the  State — Pied- 
mont and  the  west — that  Jefferson  found  his  democratic  sup- 
port. In  the  east,  Washington,  and  not  Jefferson,  was  the 
political  idol  of  the  people,  and  even  Patrick  Henry,  who  with 
Bland  had  preached  the  Revolution,  and  who  had  been  the  fire- 
brand that  set  America  aflame,  turned  against  Jefferson  after 
the  war  and  headed  the  conservative  forces.  Men  like  Cropper 
and  \\^ise  had  fought  for  American  liberty,  but  that  liberty  hav- 
ing been  won,  they  believed  with  W^ashington,  and  Adams,  and 
Marshall,  and  Hamilton,  that  a  strongly  centralized  government 
was  essential  to  its  preservation,  while  Jefferson  and  his  fol- 
lowers held  the  centralist  tendencies  of  the  Federalists  to  be  a 
reversion  to  the  old,  undemocratic  order,  from  which  the  country 
had  freed  itself  with  so  much  of  suffering  and  bloodshed.  Sup- 
ported by  the  populous  west,  Jefferson's  democracy  proved  too 
strong  for  the  consen-atives  of  the  east,  and,  recognizing  the 
political  trend  of  the  times.  Major  Wise  w-as  compelled  to  sur- 
render his  leadership  in  the  Virginia  Legislature,  though  he  and 
Cropper  held  Accomack  loyal  to  Washington  and  Marshall  to 
the  last. 

Maj.  John  Wise's  first  wife,  we  have  seen,  was  Mary  Henry, 
called  "Polly."  They  were  married  about  1788.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Judge  James  Henry,  born  in  Accomack  in  1731.  A 
graduate  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  he  settled  late  in  life 
in  Fleet's  Bay,  Northumberland  County,  and  died  December 
4,  1804.  Judge  Henry  represented  Accomack  in  the  Assemblies 
of  1772,  1773,  and  1774.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  a  judge  of  the  Admiralty  Court,  formerly  in 
existence,  and  hence  of  the  first  Court  of  Appeals.  A  man  of 
unusual    learning,    he    was    greatly    respected    in    A^irginia.      A 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  95 

biographical  sketch  of  Judge  Henry  appears  in  Hening's  Statutes. 
He  married  Sarah  Scarburgh.  It  was  after  his  retirement  from 
public  life,  in  1778.  that  Major  Wise  was  married  to  his  second 
wife,  Miss  Sarah  (called  Sally)  Corbin  Cropper,  who  resided 
with  her  father,  at  the  ancestral  seat,  ''Boivman's  Folly,"  on 
Follv  Creek,  a  few  miles  from  Drummondtown  or  Accomack 
Court  House :  and  the  following  correspondence,  which  has  been 
preserved,  will  show  with  what  result  his  addresses  were 
received : 


John  Wise  to  General  Cropper, 
(without  date) 

"Feeling  myself  irresistibly  impelled  by  inclination,  and 
prompted  by  a  sense  of  propriety,  I  have  presumed  now  to  ad- 
dress you  upon  a  subject  of  importance  and  delicacy. 

''Having  conceived  an  affection  for  your  daughter  (Miss 
Sally)  I  beg  leave  to  solicit  your  permission  to  make  my  ad- 
dresses to  her,  and,  at  the  same  time,  let  me  express  a  hope  that 
should  I  be  so  fortunate  as  to  succeed  in  obtaining  her  affections, 
my  first  wishes  may  not  be  frustrated  by  your  disapprobation.  I 
have  thought  proper  to  make  the  application  to  you  on  the  subject 
in  this  manner,  rather  than  in  person,  because  my  character  (if 
I  have  acquired  any),  my  condition  and  my  situation  in  life  are 
not  altogether  unknown  to  you,  and  if  objections  are  to  be  made 
thev  can  be  more  freely  communicated  in  this  than  in  any 
other  way. 

'T  have  hitherto  proceeded  no  further  with  the  lady  than 
merely  to  obtain  her  permission  to  make  this  application,  and 
Sir,  I  now  pledge  you  the  honor  of  a  Gentleman,  that  in  case  you 
have  objections,  of  an  insuperable  nature,  to  the  proposed  union, 
whatever  may  be  the  chagrin,  regret  and  mortification  which  I 
mav  feel  upon  the  occasion,  I  will  not  disturb  the  quiet  of  a 
parent  anxiously  solicitous,  no  doubt,  for  the  happiness  of  a 
beloved  daughter,  by  persisting  any  farther  with  her. 

"Permit  me  to  assure  you  that  I  am  with  much  consideration 
and  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"John  Wise." 


96  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

To  this  remarkable  letter  General  Cropper  replied  as  follows : 

"Bowman's  Folly,  11  of  May,  1797. 

"Sir:  Although  the  application  made  by  letter  of  this  day 
was  unexpected,  yet  my  reflections  heretofore  on  that  subject 
have  prepared  my  answer :  that  however  solicitous  I  may  be  for 
the  temporal  felicity  of  my  daughter  and  future  respectability  of 
my  daughter  and  future  respectability  of  my  child,  she  is  the 
only  proper  judge  of  the  person  best  calculated  to  make  her 
happy.  Respect  and  unpartiality  ought  to  be  shown  by  me  to 
you  or  any  gentleman  that  might  make  his  address  to  my 
daughter,  and  I  confide  in  your  candor  and  justice. 

"I  am.  Sir,  with  due  respect. 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"John  Cropper." 

Maj.  John  Wise  married  Sarah  Corl)in  Cropper  April  18, 
1799,  two  years  after  the  exchange  of  the  letters  quoted.  She 
was  born  March  21,  1777.  and  died  January  21,  1813.  She  is 
said  to  have  been  a  handsome  blonde,  of  a  high-strung,  nervous 
temperament,  and  a  temper  of  her  own,  and  received  her  educa- 
tion at  the  celebrated  school  of  Mrs.  Valeria  Fullerton,  on  Mul- 
berry Street,  Philadelphia,  where  she  formed  and  enjoyed  an 
intimate  friendship  with  Maria  Jefferson,  her  schoolmate.  While 
at  school  in  Philadelphia  she  had  a  love-affair  with  Mr.  Thomas 
Sergeant,  a  nephew  of  her  schoolmistress,  and  afterwards  the 
distinguished  Judge  Sergeant  of  Pennsylvania.  This  match  was 
broken  off  on  account  of  some  objection  raised  by  her  father, 
and,  singularly  enough,  as  if  by  way  of  illustrating  the  old  say- 
ing, that  a  marriage  interfered  with  between  two  families  in  one 
generation  will  occur  in  a  succeeding  one,  many  years  after- 
wards, Henry  A.  Wise,  the  son  of  Maj.  John  Wise  and  Sally 
Cropper,  married  the  niece  of  Judge  Thomas  Sergeant,  ]\Iiss 
Sarah  Sergeant,  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Sergeant. 

It  is  related  of  Sarah  Corbin  Cropper  that  as  she  lay  upon 
her  deathbed,  she  turned  to  a  woman  attendant,  seated  by  her 
side,  and,  looking  her  in  the  face,  asked  her  if  she  thought  she 
would  ever  rise  from  her  bed  again,  to  which  query  the  servant, 
with  tears  in  her  eves,  answered,  "No"  ;    whereupon  the  invalid 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  97 

sprang  from  her  bed  calling  out,  "I'll  show  you,  you  hussy." 
and  as  a  result  of  her  exertions  died  soon  after.  This  good 
woman  is  said  to  have  inherited  her  fiery  temper  from  her 
father — General  Cropper — and  through  her  his  high  spirit  was 
transmitted  to  her  children. 

Sarah  Corbin  Cropper  was  the  daughter  of  Gen.  John  Cropper 
and  ]^Iargaret  Pettitt,  both  of  whom  are  buried  at  "Bowman's 
Folly,"  the  home  of  General  Cropper.  Margaret  Pettitt  was  the 
daughter  of  William  Pettitt,  of  Occahannock,  who  died  in  1769, 
and  his  wife,  Mary.  \\'illiam  Pettitt  was  the  son  of  William 
Pettitt,  who  died  in  1764,  and  his  wife,  Amey,  and  this  William 
Pettitt  was  the  son  of  John  Pettitt,  who  died  in  1750.  The 
Pettitts  settled  in  Northampton  County  prior  to  1644,  and  were 
large  landholders  from  the  time  of  their  first  appearance  in  the 
county. 

Who  Mary,  the  mother,  and  Amey,  the  grandmother,  of  Mar- 
garet Pettitt  were,  the  writer  is  unable  to  determine,  although  it 
is  believed  that  Mary,  the  mother  of  Margaret  Pettitt,  was  a 
daughter  of  Robinson  Custis. 

In  three  different  family  papers  it  is  recorded  that  Margaret 
Pettitt  was  a  descendant  of  John  Custis,  but  this  is  as  indefinite 
as  is  the  name  John  Custis.  There  were  many  John  Custises. 
In  the  family  graveyard  at  ":\Iount  Custis"  is  the  grave  of  one 
Lieut.  Henry  Custis.  who  was  the  uncle  of  Margaret  Pettitt, 
and  on  his  tombstone  it  is  stated  that  he  was  the  son  of  Robinson 
Custis  and  Mary,  his  wife.  Margaret  Pettitt  must,  therefore, 
have  been  a  granddaughter  of  Robinson  Custis. 

Robinson  Custis  was  the  son  of  Col.  Henry  Custis  and  Anne 
Kendall,  daughter  of  Col.  William  Kendall,  and  his  second  wife, 
Anne  Mason.  Anne  Kendall  w^as  the  widow  of  Thomas  Custis, 
who  married,  first.  Elizabeth  Custis,  sister  of  Col.  Henry  Custis. 
Col.  Henry  Custis,  therefore,  married  his  brother-in-law's 
widow,  and  his  brother-in-law  was  his  own  first  cousin. 

Col.  William  Kendall  of  "Newport  House,"  the  grandfather 
of  Robinson  Custis,  w^as  a  Burgess  for  Northampton  County  in 
1657,  Collector  in  1660,  Commissioner  in  1667,  Burgess  1662- 
63-86,  Speaker  of  the  House  in  1686,  and  one  of  the  foremost 
men  of  his  time.     In  1684  he  gave  300  acres  of  his  land  as  a 


98  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

site  for  the  county  seat  at  Eastville,  then  known  as  the  Horns, 
or  Peachburg.  His  daughter,  Mary,  married  Hancock  Lee,  son 
of  Col.  Richard  Lee,  the  immigrant  of  164L  The  first  wife  of 
Colonel  Kendall  was  Susanna,  widow  of  Capt.  Francis  Pott, 
whom  he  married  in  1658-9. 

In  1676  Col.  William  Kendall  and  Col.  Charles  Scarburgh 
were  the  only  two  prominent  Eastern  Shoremen  who  espoused 
the  cause  of  Bacon  the  Rebel.  March  3,  1677,  they  were  brought 
before  the  King's  Commissioners  and  heavily  fined  for  having 
uttered  "divers  scandalous  and  mutinous  words  tending  to  the 
dishonor  of  the  right  honourable,  the  Governor."  They  were 
fortunate  to  escape  with  a  fine  alone,  which  was  no  doubt  due  in 
part  to  the  influence  of  their  kinsmen.  Col.  Southey  Littleton  and 
Lieut.-Col.  John  West,  members  of  the  King's  Court-]\Iartial. 
Furthermore,  Colonel  Scarburgh's  sister,  Tabitha,  was  the  wife 
of  Maj.-Gen.  John  Custis  in  command  of  the  King's  forces. 
Even  the  irate  and  ^'engeful  Berkeley  was  unable  to  break 
through  the  wall  of  influence  that  protected  the  two  foremost 
Eastern  Shore  rebels.  And  even  though  the  leaders  among  the 
Accomackians  with  but  two  exceptions  remained  loyal  in  1676, 
and  aided  the  royal  Governor,  giving  him  support  in  men  and 
money  without  which  the  Rebellion  would  no  doubt  have  suc- 
ceeded, vet  they  were  quick  enough  when  the  rising  was  put  down 
to  demand  redress  of  their  own  peculiar  grievances  against  the 
royal  government,  so  that,  after  all,  the  staunchest  supporters 
of  Berkeley  seem  to  have  demanded  a  price  for  their  loyalty. 
But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  the  "Grievances"  of  1676 
they  only  sought  that  which  was  justly  due  them,  and  the  loyalty 
of  the  Wises,  Littletons,  Wests,  Hills,  Bowmans,  Corbins. 
Custises.  Michaels,  Croppers,  and  their  contemporaries  in  1676, 
should  not  be  held  too  lightly  when  it  is  recalled  that  these  same 
people  had  in  December,  1649,  unanimously  declared  Charles  II. 
the  rightful  successor  to  the  throne  when  other  sections  of  the 
Colony  had  bowed  almost  without  protest  to  the  authority  of 
Parliament.  And  it  is  also  a  trilmte  to  their  loyalty  that  though 
the  Eastern  Shore  population  included  many  Hollanders  and 
Puritans,  and  was  more  liberal  in  matters  pertaining  to  the  church 
than   any   other   section  of   the   Colony,   yet   these    foreign   and 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS  99 

democratic  influences  were  never  allowed  to  impair  the  devotion 
of  the  people  as  a  whole  to  the  King.  This  fact  was  undoubtedly 
due  to  the  commanding  influence  of  the  Royalist  leaders  of  Ac- 
comack and  Northampton — notably  the  Scarburghs,  Littletons, 
Wises,  Custises,  Robinsons,  and  Bowmans,  all  of  whom  were 
Cavaliers,  not  only  by  sympathy,  but  by  blood.  The  presence  of 
the  Cavalier  element  as  a  controlling  factor  in  Colonial  politics 
may  be  questioned  as  to  the  Colony  of  Virginia  as  a  whole,  but 
even  Professor  Hart,  of  Harvard,  would  not  dare  ignore  the 
recorded  facts  as  to  the  Eastern  Shore. 

Col.  Henry  Custis,  the  father  of  Robinson  Custis,  was  the  son 
of  Col.  John  Custis  of  "Wilsonia,"  who  was  born  in  1653,  and 
died  January  26,  1713.  The  first  wife  of  Col.  John  Custis  was 
Margaret  Michael,  and  his  second  wife  was  Sarah  Littleton, 
daughter  of  Col.  Southey  Littleton.  Lie  was  a  member  of  the 
Virginia  Assembly,  representing  Northampton  County,  from 
1685  to  1696,  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council,  Colonel  of 
Militia,  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  Accomack  in  1699.  Bv  his 
second  wife  he  liad  no  children,  but  by  Margaret  Michael  he  had 
seven  sons  and  two  daughters. 

Margaret  Michael,  the  wife  of  Col.  John  Custis  of  "Wilsonia," 
was  the  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Michael,  who  came  to  Virginia 
about  1656  from  Graft,  Holland.  His  will,  dated  November 
18,  1678,  is  of  record.  He  gave  to  his  son,  Adam  Michael,  his 
land  at  King's  Creek,  and  also  1,000  acres  at  Metompkin  Creek, 
including  the  "Mount  Custis"  house  which  he  built.  To  his 
sons,  John  and  Simon,  he  gave  2,300  acres  at  Masangoes, 
Hungars,  and  Chincoteague,  and  to  his  daughter,  Sarah,  the 
wife  of  Argoll  Yeardley,  Jr.,  500  acres  at  Matchepungo.  In  his 
will  he  requested  that  the  Rev.  Thomas  Teackle  preach  his 
funeral  sermon,  taking  as  the  text  the  Second  Corinthians,  fifth 
chapter,  last  verse;  that  he  be  buried  in  his  first  wife's  grave 
at  King's  Creek,  and  that  "no  drinking  immoderately  nor  shoot- 
ing be  suffered  at  my  funeral,  being  in  my  judgment  very  un- 
reasonable and  inconsistent  with  the  occasion,  but  civil  and  full 
entertainment  be  given."  Adam  Michael,  son  of  John,  died  in 
1689.  He  gave  his  farm  at  King's  Creek  to  his  nephew,  Hancock 
Custis,    and   his    farm    "Mount    Custis"    to    Henrv    Custis,    his 


100  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

nephew.  Adam's  widow  was  Sarah  Littleton,  danghter  of  Col. 
Soiithey  Littleton,  and  she  became  the  second  wife  of  Col.  John 
Ciistis  of  "Wilsonia."  She  became,  therefore,  by  her  second 
marriage,  the  stepmother  of  her  first  husband's  nieces  and 
nephews. 

Capt.  John  Michael  married  Elizabeth  Thorogood,  the 
daughter  of  Capt.  Adam  Thorogood  of  "Lynnhaven"  and  Sarah 
Offley,  the  daughter  of  Robert  Offley  and  Anne  Osborne  of 
London,  and  granddaughter  of  Sir  Edward  Osborne,  Lord 
Mayor  of  London. 

Capt.  Adam  Thorogood  of  "Lynnhaven"  was  born  in  1603, 
and  arrived  in  Virginia  on  the  ship  Charles  in  1621.  He  re- 
turned to  England  to  marry  Sarah  Offley  in  1 627.  Representing 
Elizabeth  City  for  many  years  in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  he  was 
one  of  the  foremost  figures  in  the  early  colonial  history  of  \^ir- 
ginia.  Norfolk  is  said  to  have  been  named  by  him  after  Norfolk 
in  England.     He  died  in  1657. 

His  father  was  \\'illiam  Thorogood  of  Norfolk  County,  Eng- 
land, who  was  born  about  1560,  and  became  Commissarv  to  the 
Bishop  of  Norwich  in  1587.     He  married  Anne  Edwards. 

William  Thorogood's  father  was  John  Thorogood  of  Frelsted, 
Essex  County,  born  about  1530,  who  married  the  daughter  of 
Lucker.     He  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Thorogood.  born 


about   1470,  and  Thomas  was  the  son  of  John  Thorogood  of 
Chelston  Temple,  Hertfordshire,  born  about  1440. 

The  Thorogood,  or  Thoroughgood,  arms  are : 

Arms:    Sable  on  chief  argent,  three  buckles  lozengy  of 

the  first. 
Crest:    A  wolf's  head  argent,  collared  sable. 

Col.  John  Custis  of  "Wilsonia"  was  the  only  son  of  Maj.- 
Gen.  John  Custis  of  "Arlington"  and  Elizabeth  Robinson, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Robinson  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  of 
Shadwell.  England.  Elizabeth  Robinson,  wife  of  Gen.  John 
Custis,  was  the  aunt  of  Col.  Tully  Robinson. 

Maj.-Gen.  John  Custis  was  born  in  Holland  in  1630,  and  died 
January  29,  1696.     He  was  appointed  Surveyor  of  Northampton 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         101 

County  November  26,  1653.  and  High  Sheriff  April  17,  1665. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council  and  Major-General 
of  tlie  troops  in  Virginia.  He  was  an  active,  enterprising  man. 
and  was  long  engaged  with  Colonel  Scarburgh  in  making  salt  on 
Smith's  Island.  Foremost  in  all  civil  and  ecclesiastical  matters. 
in  1676,  during  Bacon's  Rebellion,  he  was  appointed  to  command 
the  King's  loyal  forces.  He  was  an  ardent  Royalist,  and  a 
favorite  of  Lord  Arlington  in  the  time  of  Charles  II.  Gov. 
William  Berkeley  made  his  home  his  headquarters  and  place  of 
refuge  in  1676.  John  Custis  is  buried  at  "Arlington,"  where  a 
handsome  tomb,  marked  with  his  coat  of  arms,  is  to  be  seen. 
His  will  is  of  record.  His  second  wife  was  Alicia  Walker,  and 
his  third  wife  was  Tabitha  Scarburgh,  daughter  of  Col.  Edmund 
Scarburgh.  Tabitha  Scarburgh  later  married  Col.  Edward  Hill 
of  "Shirley." 

Maj.-Gen.  John  Custis  of  "Arlington"  was  the  son  of  Capt. 
John  Custis,  an  Englishman,  born  about  1599,  and  who,  prior  to 
his  migration  to  Virginia,  was  a  resident  of  Rotterdam,  Holland, 
where  Bishop  Meade  declares  he  kept  a  tavern.  When  Col. 
Henry  Norwood  was  shipwrecked  off  the  Accomack  coast  in 
1652  he  was  received  and  entertained  by  John  Custis,  whom  he 
had  known  in  Holland.  Bishop  Meade  also  states  that  John 
Custis  was  an  Irishman,  but  he  was  of  English  parentage.  It  is 
probable  that  he  was  of  a  family  of  Gloucestershire.  He  mar- 
ried, prior  to  1630,  Joan  or  Jane  Powell,  and  being  an  ardent 
Royalist  removed  to  Virginia  when  the  Cromwellian  Party  came 
into  power.  His  wife  died  prior  to  Januar}-  5,  1675.  He  had 
numerous  children.     His  arms  were : 

Arms  :   Argent,  three  popinjays  vert. 
Crest  :    An  archer  proper,  coat  vert,  shooting  an  arrow 
from  a  bow  of  the  first. 

The  will  of  John  Smithier,  of  Arlington,  County  Gloucester, 
dated  February  16,  1618,  and  probated  October  31,  1626,  men- 
tions his  cousin,  "Henry  Custis,  alias  Cliffe,  son-in-law  of  Ed- 
ward Custis,  alias  Cliffe,  and  his  son,  John  Custis ;  also  William 
Custis,  Nicholas  Custis,  etc."  The  arms  adopted  by  the  Custis 
family  of  Accomack  were  those  of  Clift'e  of  the  County  of  Essex, 


102  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

England.  It  has  been  repeatedly  stated  that  Maj.-Gen.  John 
Cnstis  of  \'irginia  named  his  estate  "Arlington"  after  his  friend 
and  patron  Lord  Arlington,  but  it  is  more  probable  that  the 
name  was  that  of  his  father's  home  place  in  Gloucestershire. 
However  that  may  be,  the  estate  on  the  Potomac  River  near 
Washington  was  named  by  its  original  owner,  Col.  Daniel  Parke 
Custis,  the  first  husband  of  Martha  Dandridge,  after  the  home 
of  his  forebears  in  Northampton  County. 

John  Custis,  the  immigrant,  had  six  sons:  Thomas,  of  Balti- 
more, Ireland :  Edward,  of  London ;  Robert,  of  Rotterdam, 
w^hose  daughter  married,  about  1649,  Col.  Argoll  Yeardley,  son 
of  Governor  Yeardley;  Maj.-Gen.  John,  of  Virginia;  William, 
of  Virginia;  and  Joseph,  of  Virginia.  John  Custis  I.  was  not 
only  the  progenitor  of  Martha  Dandridge  Washington's  first 
husband,  but  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee.  As  a  Virginia  ancestor 
he  shares  honors  with  Col.  Augustine  Warner,  who  was  the 
ancestor  of  George  W^ashington  and  General  Lee,  and  with 
William  Randolph  of  "Turkey  Island,"  who  was  the  ancestor 
of  George  Washington,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  General  Lee. 
The  great-great-grandchildren  of  General  Cropper,  or  the 
children  of  John  Sergeant  Wise,  are  descended  from  John  Custis, 
Col.  William  Randolph,  and  Col.  Augustine  Warner. 

John  Custis  and  his  brother  William,  and  John  Alichael, 
were  all  required  to  give  assurance  of  loyalty  to  the  Common- 
wealth in  1652,  after  having  taken  part  in  the  Royalist  Revolt 
of  that  year  with  the  Scarburghs,  Littletons,  and  Wises,  and 
Col.  John  Custis  of  "Wilsonia,"  grandson  of  the  immigrant, 
John  Custis,  was  one  of  the  committee  of  citizens  who  drew  up 
and  signed  the  Northampton  Grievances  in  1676. 

"Mount  Custis,"  which  was  built  by  Capt.  John  Michael,  was 
inherited  by  Adam  Michael,  his  son,  who,  dying  wathout  children, 
left  the  estate  to  his  nephew.  Col.  Henry  Custis,  from  whom  it 
passed  to  his  son,  Robinson  Custis,  and  from  him  to  his  son, 
Lieut.  Henry  Custis.  Lieut.  Henry  Custis,  who  is  buried  in 
front  of  the  house,  sold  the  plantation  to  his  niece,  Margaret 
Pettitt,  first  wife  of  Gen.  John  Cropper,  for  the  nominal  sum  of 
$600,   reserving  to  himself  the  right  to  occupy  the  house  and 


HIS  ANXESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         103 

enjoy  the  revenues  of  the  estate  for  hfe.  and  providing  in  the 
deed  of  sale  for  an  annuity  of  $100  to  his  wife,  Mathilda,  for 
her  life  after  his  death. 

In  Robert  Lancaster's  valuable  work  on  the  historic  homes  and 
churches  of  Virginia,  Col.  Henry  Custis  and  his  grandson,  Lieut. 
Henry  Custis,  have  been  confused. 

The  Custis  records  are  too  voluminous  to  be  given  here  ni 
detail,  but  may  be  found  in  many  standard  works,  particularly 
well  arranged  and  annotated  in  a  work  by  W.  W.  Harrison  on 
the  "Harrison  and  Waples  Families"  (1910).  One  should  also 
consult  Bishop  Meade's  work,  and  "The  Early  History  of  the 
Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia,"  by  the  writer.  As  this  work  pro- 
ceeds the  reader  will  note  many  crosses  between  the  Wise  and 
Custis  families — no  less  than  five.  The  intermarriages  among 
the  Wise,  Custis,  Littleton,  Scarburgh,  \\'est,  Robinson,  and 
Douglas  families  are  so  numerous  that  they  are  bewildering. 
Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  from  about  1630  the  history  of  the 
Eastern  Shore  for  the  following  century  is  the  history  of  the 
Scarburghs,  Littletons,  Custises,  Wises,  Croppers,  Bowmans, 
Corbins,  Parkers,  and  Baylys,  w'ho  were  intermarried  with  every 
prominent  family  in  their  section  of  the  Colony,  notably  the 
Yeardleys,  Kendalls,  Lees,  Upshurs,  Joyneses,  and  Robinses. 
Indeed  so  closely  related  are  many  of  these  .families  through 
frequent  intermarriages  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  determine 
their  exact  relationships.  In  no  section  of  the  countrv'  is  early 
kinship  so  involved  as  in  Accomack  and  Northampton  counties. 

When  Margaret  Pettitt  married  General  Cropper  she  was  an 
orphan  living  with  her  guardian,  ]\Ir.  George  Abbott,  of  Acco- 
mack, in  whose  home  she  was  married  by  the  Rev.  \\'illiam 
Vere,  one  month  before  her  boy-husband,  aged  nineteen,  left 
with  the  company  he  had  raised  in  Accomack  for  Washington's 
Army  in  the  North.  She  was  a  lovely  woman  whose  courage 
was  equal  to  the  distressing  circumstances  of  war  which  con- 
stantly beset  her  home — a  home  that  was  frequently  in  the  ab- 
sence of  her  husband  visited  and  sacked  by  the  British  raiding 
parties.  On  one  occasion  all  of  her  furniture  and  possessions, 
including  her  slaves  and  household  servants,  were  removed  from 
"Bowman's  Folly"  by  the  Bristish  and  Tories,  whereupon  she 


104 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


addressed  a  note  to  the  commanding  officer  requesting  that  the 
"bare  necessities"  be  returned  to  her.  In  answer  to  her  request 
a  package  of  large,  brass  catchpins  were  returned,  which  were 
destined  to  cause  her  death.  In  January,  1883,  she  was 
bandaging  a  wound  in  her  husband's  head,  which  he  had  re- 
tei\ed  the  ])receding  Xo\'ember  in  the  Battle  of  the  Barges  in 


GEN.   JOHN    CROPPER 
Piiixit   T.    Sully 


the  Accomack  waters.  Holding  one  of  the  large  pins  between 
her  teeth,  something  startled  her,  causing  her  to  swallow  it. 
which  resulted  in  her  death.  Her  husband  later  with  others 
founded  an  academy  in  Accomack,  which  was  chartered  in  1787, 
and  which  was  named  ^Margaret  Academy  in  her  honor.  Being 
a  great-granddaughter  of  Col.  John  Custis  of  "Wilsonia"  she 
was,  therefore,  a  cousin  of  General  Washington's  adopted 
children.     Martha  Dandvidge  married  her  cousin. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         105 

Gen.  John  Cropper  was  born  at  "Bowman's  Folly,"  December 
23,  1755.  He  w^as  the  foremost  man  of  his  day  in  Accomack 
County.  When  but  nineteen  years  of  age  he  was  commissioned 
captain  (February  5,  1766)  9th  Virginia  Regiment,  Continental 
Line,  and  raised  the  first  company  for  the  war  to  be  recruited  in 
Accomack  County.  John  Marshall,  later  Chief  Justice,  was  a 
lieutenant  in  his  company.  Cropper  had  been  married  but  a  month 
when  he  left  with  his  command  for  the  North.  January  4,  1777, 
he  was  promoted  major  7th  Virginia  Regiment,  and  as  such 
served  with  conspicuous  gallantry  at  Brandywine,  Germantown, 
and  throughout  the  Northern  Campaign;  wintered  at  Valley 
Forge;  and  at  Monmouth,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel, 
commanded  Daniel  Morgan's  (11th  Virginia)  famous  regiment 
of  riflemen.  In  the  fall  of  1778  he  returned  to  his  home  on  leave, 
where  he  saw  for  the  first  time  his  infant  daughter,  Sarah  Corbin 
Cropper,  then  about  a  year  and  a  half  old.  He  did  not  rejoin 
the  Army,  but  was  ordered  to  remain  in  Accomack  as  County 
Lieutenant.  Under  his  command  fell  the  Eastern  Shore  and 
the  lower  counties  of  Virginia,  which  it  w^as  his  duty  to  protect 
against  the  marauding  expeditions  of  the  Tories  and  British 
barges.  His  military  services  in  this  capacity  were  even  more 
brilliant  and  important  than  as  an  officer  of  the  line.  When  war 
with  France  threatened  in  1793  Cropper  was  lieutenant-colonel. 
2d  Virginia  Regiment,  and  was  nominated  by  Washington  to 
command  the  Virginia  forces.  In  1798  he  was  again  placed  in 
command  of  the  Eastern  Counties.  In  1801  he  was  Sheriff  of 
Accomack.  From  1784  to  1792  he  represented  his  county  in  the 
House  of  Delegates,  and  from  1813  to  1817  in  the  Senate.  He 
also  rendered  militarv  service  in  the  War  of  1812,  commanding- 
the  9th  Virginia  Brigade  in  1813,  and  the  21st  Virginia  Brigade 
in  1815,  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  (Va.  Vols.)  An 
original  member  of  the  Virginia  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  he  was 
vice-president,  and,  from  1816  to  the  time  of  its  disbandment, 
president.  An  ardent  and  violent  Federalist,  Washington  and 
Marshall  were  his  idols.  Throughout  the  latter  years  of  his  life 
General  Cropper  made  it  a  practice  to  read  from  Marshall's  life 
of  Washington  to  his  family  and  ser\ants  on  Sundays.  His  one 
toast  was,  "God  bless  General  Washington." 


106  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

He  died  January  15,  1821,  at  liis  home.  A  portrait  of  him 
by  Peale,  in  the  uniform  of  a  brigadier-general,  was  handed 
down  to  the  late  John  Cropper,  of  Washington,  his  last  male 
descendant :  his  widow  presented  it  after  her  husband's  death  to 
the  Smithsonian  Institute. 

Two  unmarried  sisters  of  the  late  John  Cropper,  of  Washing- 
ton, Miss  Rosina  and  Miss  Catherine  Cropper,  of  Rome,  Italy, 
granddaughters  of  General  Cropper,  who  own  "Bowman's 
Folly,"  alone  retain  the  surname  of  Cropper.  There  are  five 
instances  in  which  it  is  retained  as  a  middle  name  by  his 
descendants :  Dr.  John  Cropper  Wise,  John  Cropper  Wise,  Esq., 
Jennings  Cropper  Wise,  Margaret  Cropper  Watkins,  and  John 
Cropper  Ayres.  There  are  in  possession  of  his  descendants,  liis 
Cincinnati  diploma,  his  sword,  his  cannon,  and  other  relics.  His 
papers  include  a  most  interesting  journal  which  he  kept,  the 
original  manuscript  order  of  Lafayette  assigning  Cropper  to  the 
command  of  the  11th  Mrginia  Regiment,  and  a  note  from 
Lafayette  to  Cropper  concerning  uniforms  for  the  latter's  men. 
The  cannon  above  mentioned  was  given  to  General  Cropper  by 
Lafayette  after  the  Siege  of  Yorktown,  and  it  is  now  in  the 
Smithsonian  Institute. 

General  Cropper  was  the  son  of  Maj.  Sebastian  Cropper  and 
Sabra  Corbin,  both  of  whom  died  in  1776.  Maj.  Sebastian 
Cropper  of  "Bowman's  Folly,"  who  was  commissioned  by  the 
Committee  of  Safety,  September,  1775,  was  the  son  of  Bowman 
Cropper,  died  1757,  and  he  was  the  son  of  Sebastian  Cropper, 
died  1727,  and  Rachel  Parker,  the  daughter  of  Peter  Parker. 
The  pedigree  of  the  Parkers  is  well  established.  ( \^a.  Mag. 
Hist.  &  Biog. )  Sebastian  Cropper,  Sr.,  was  the  son  of  John 
Cropper,  the  English  emigrant,  who  died  prior  to  1691,  and 
Gertrude  Bowman,  the  daughter  of  Maj.  Edmund  Bowman,  who 
died  in  1691,  and  Catherine,  his  wife. 

John  Cropper,  the  immigrant,  was  a  member  of  the  Lancaster 
family  of  Cropper,  one  of  the  members  of  which  married  the 
sister  of  Lord  Macaulay.  He  is  said  to  ha\e  been  a  carpenter 
b}"  trade,  but  probably  from  the  fact  that  he  engaged  in  building 
his  house.  His  father-in-law,  Maj.  Sir  Edmund  Bowman,  an 
English  Knight,  who  settled  on  Folly  Creek,  was  a  burgess  and 
sheriff  of   Accomack,   and   one  of  his  daughters  married   Col. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AXD  DESCENDANTS         107 

Southey  Littleton,  member  of  the  \'irginia  Council,  burgess, 
etc.,  etc.  ]\Iajor  Bowman  was  a  justice  of  Accomack  in  1677, 
when  he  signed  the  famous  Memorial  to  Berkeley,  and  again  in 
1691.  In  1688  he  was  summoned  before  the  Council  with  his 
kinsman.  Col.  Charles  Scarburgh,  for  publicly  denouncing 
James  II.  and  his  "popish  Allies,"  but  escaped  with  a  fine. 
(Burke's  Hist,  of  Va.,  Vol.  II..  p.  297:  \^a.  Mag.  Hist.  &  Biog., 
"Jacobitism.") 

He  was  a  man  of  influence  and  large  wealth,  and  built  the 
first  of  the  famous  mansions  known  as  "Bowman's  Follv,"  on 
Folly  Creek,  a  few  miles  from  Drummondtown,  and  in  view  of 
beautiful  Metompkin  Inlet.  This  estate  formed  the  ancestral 
seat  of  the  Croppers,  passing  from  yiaj.  Edmund  Bowman 
through  his  daughter,  Gertrude,  to  his  grandson.  Bowman 
Cropper,  who  married  the  daughter  of  Col.  Coventon  Corbin  of 
"Chincoteague,"  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  Accomack 
in  his  day. 

Colonel  Corbin  was  born  in  1711,  and  died  August  30,  1778. 
He  was  undoubtedly  closely  related  to  the  Corbins  of  the 
Western  Shore  and  of  tlie  Corbin  family  of  ^^^arwickshire.  This 
family  was  sprung  from  Nicholas  Corbin,  who,  in  the  reign  of 
Richard  III.  and  Henry  A'lL,  owned  "Hall's  End,"  and  other 
landed  property  in  ^^'arwickshire.  The  first  of  the  family  to 
migrate  to  Virginia  was  Henry  Corbin,  the  grandson  of  Gawen 
Grosvenor.  Henry  Corbin  was  Burgess  for  Lancaster  in  1659, 
member  of  the  Council  in  1663.  and  lustice  for  Middlesex  in 
1673. 

The  wife  of  Col.  Coventon  Corbin  was  Barbary,  who  was 
born  in  1703,  and  died  in  1753.  He  and  his  wife  are  both 
buried  at  "Chincoteague"  farm,  in  the  upper  part  of  Accomack 
County,  the  ancestral  seat  of  the  Corbins. 

General  Cropper  married  twice.  By  his  first  wife,  Margaret 
Pettitt.  he  had  ^largaret  Pettitt  Cropper  and  Sarah  Corbin 
Cropper.  Margaret  Pettitt  Cropper  married  Col.  Thomas  yi. 
Bayly  of  Accomack.  She  was  his  first  wife.  His  second  wife 
was  Jane  O.  Bayly,  by  whom  he  had  two  daughters  and  a  son. 
By  his  first  wife  he  had  the  following  issue: 

1.   Henrv  Bavlv,  died  voung. 


108  Col.  JOHX  WISE 

2.  Hon.  'I'lioiiias  H.  Ba}ly,  ser\ed  se\en  terms  in  Congress, 
succeeding"  Hon.  Henry  A.  Wise,  whf)  had  represented 
Accomack  six  terms  when  he  resigned  to  become  minister 
to  Brazil.  He  married  I'^elyn  May,  daughter  of  Judge 
May,  of  Petersburg,  \'a.,  and  had:  Nanine  May  Bayly, 
died  at  eighteen  :  and  Evelyn  May  Bayly,  who  married 
Dr.  Lewis  McLane  Tiffany,  of  Baltimore,  who  died  in 
1916.     Airs.  Tiffany  now  owns  "Mount  Custis." 

3.  William  P.  Bayly,  married  Elizabeth  Parramore,  and 
had  issue. 

4.  Sadie  P.  Bayly,  spinster,  deceased. 

5.  Margaret  P.  Bayly,  married  James  W.  Custis  and  had : 
Catherine  Poulson  Custis,  who  married  Charles  Hans- 
ford and  had  James  Custis  Hansford  and  Robert  Hans- 
ford ;  Bettie  Fisher  Custis,  who  married  Rev.  Mr. 
Ambler ;  and  Florence  Custis,  who  married  Edward 
Cole,  of  Williamsburg,  and  had  issue. 

6.  Elizabeth  W.  Bayly,  married  Samuel  Melvin  and  had 
Dr.  Henry  Bayly  Melvin  and  Fannie  Mayo  Melvin, 
who  married  R.  \\'.  Watkins,  of  Halifax  County,  and 
had :  Henry  Bayly  Watkins :  Mary  W^atkins,  who  mar- 
ried Dr.  B.  M.  Rosebro,  issue;  Margaret  Cropper 
Watkins,  who  married  William  De  Sassure,  issue ;  and 
Catherine  Custis  Watkins,  who  married  Pryor  Lips- 
comb, no  issue. 

7.  Ann  Drummond  Bayly,  married  Rev.  Dr.  Miller,  of  St. 
Paul's  Church,  Norfolk,  and  had  Sally  Cropper  Bayly, 
born  December  22,  1813,  died  1857,  who  married  Dr. 
Peter  Fielding  Browne,  born  November  6,  1813,  died 
1880,  the  son  of  Gen.  John  Eaton  Browne  and  Ann 
Elizabeth  Browne.     They  had  : 

1.  Capt.  Orris  Applethwaite  Browne,  born  in  Accomack 
County,  August  8,  1842,  died  September  28,  1898; 
married,  December  10,  1890,  Nannie  Bruce  Howard, 
daughter  of  Maj.  Charles  Howard,  of  Maryland,  and 
Mary  W^inder  Howard,  of  Accomack,  and  had 
Josephine  Browne,  born  September  13,  1896.  Capt. 
Orris    A.    Browne    attended    the    Virginia    Military 


HIS  AXCESTORS  AXD  DESCENDANTS         109 

Institute,  resigning  from  the  Class  of  1861  to  enter 
the  United  States  Naval  Academy  in  1860.  While 
a  cadet  at  the  Mrginia  Alilitary  Institute  he  accom- 
panied the  Corps  to  Harper's  Ferry  in  1859,  where  it 
was  sent  in  connection  with  the  John  Brown  raid. 
In  1861  he  resigned  from  the  Naval  Academy  and 
entered  the  Confederate  Navy,  serving  throughout 
the  war  and  surrendering  at  Liverpool,  in  1865,  as  an 
officer  of  the  famous  Shenandoah.  After  the  war  he 
engaged  for  two  years  in  farming  in  Argentine 
Republic,  and  returning  to  \^irginia  managed  for 
many  years  the  great  Scott  Estate  in  Northampton 
County,  known  as  Old  Plantation  Farm,  probably 
the  largest  farm  in  A^irginia. 
I.  Hon.  Thomas  Henry  Bayly  Browne,  born  in  Acco- 
mack, February  8,  '  1844 ;'  died  August  27,  1892; 
married,  February.  1873,  Anna  Fletcher,  daughter 
of  James  Fletcher,  of  Accomack,  and  had:  Maj 
Beverley  Fielding  Browne.  U.  S.  Army,  who  mar- 
ried Louise  Adams,  daughter  of  Colonel  Adams, 
LT.   S.   Army;    Florence  Bayly  Brown,  who  married 

5.  James  Turlington,  of  Accomack;  and  Fletcher 
Brown,  unmarried.  Hon.  Thomas  H.  B.  Browne 
served  during  the  war  in  Chew's  Battery,  Horse 
Artillery,  of  Stuart's  Corps.  After  the  war  he 
entered  the  L^niversity  of  Mrginia  and  was  graduated 
in  law  in  1868.  In  1873  he  became  Commonwealth's 
Attorney  for  Accomack,  and  in  1886  he  represented 
the  First  District  of  Virginia  in  Congress. 

1.  Willie  Applethwaite  Browne,  of  "BolHng  Island," 
born  in  Accomack.  December  31,  1848.  married,  June 

6,  1872,  George  S.  Stokes,  son  of  Allen  Y.  Stokes,  of 
Richmond,  and  Margaret  Pickett,  and  had  Margaret 
Pickett  Stokes  and  Sally  Bayly  Stokes. 

•.  Mary  Josephine  Browne,  born  June  7,  1847;  died 
February  12,  1903;  married  Dr.  Thomas  Allen  Tid- 
ball,  of  \\'inchester,  \'a.,  and  Baltimore. 


no  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

General  Cropper's  second  wife  was  Catherine  Bayly,  the  sister 
of  his  son-in-law.  Thomas  M.  Bayly.  Her  portrait  by  Peale 
now^  hangs  w'ith  his  own  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute.  By 
Catherine  Bayly,  General  Cropper  had  issue : 

1.  Anna  Corbin  Cropper,  married  Maj.  John  Savage,  no 
issue. 

2.  Elizabeth  Washington  Cropper,  married  Joseph  W.  Gibb 
and  had  issue. 

3.  John  Washington  Cropper,  married  Mary  Savage. 
Children  all  died  in  infancy. 

4.  Catherine  Bayly  Cropper,  married  Augustus  W.  Bag- 
well and  had  issue. 

5.  Thomas  Bayly  Cropper,  married  Rosina  Mix  and  had 
issue  as  follows :  Catherine  Elizabeth  and  Rosina  Mix, 
now  of  Rome,  Italy,  spinsters,  and  the  late  John 
Cropper,  of  Washington,  who  married  Annie  McLean 
and  had  no  issue. 

6.  Coventon  Hanson  Cropper,  married  twice.  No  living 
issue. 

For  a  full  and  accurate  sketch  of  General  Cropper,  one  must 
consult  the  "Memoir  of  Gen.  John  Cropper  of  Accomack  County, 
Virginia,"  by  Barton  Haxall  Wise,  his  great-great-grandson,  in 
Volume  XL,  Virginia  Historical  Collections.  It  is  an  absorb- 
ingly interesting  record  of  a  romantic  and  stirring  career. 

Sarah  Corbin  Cropper,  the  second  daughter  of  General 
Cropper,  married,  as  we  have  seen,  Maj.  John  Wise  V.  (See 
page  96.)  To  their  descendants  this  w^ork  will  henceforth  be 
devoted. 

Maj.  John  Wise  V.  changed  his  residence,  prior  to  his  second 
marriage,  from  his  estate  on  the  Chesconnessex  to  the  village  of 
Drummondtown,  the  county  seat,  where  he  was  Commomvealth's 
Attorney  from  January  28,  1805,  to  November  25,  1805.  The 
latter  date  he  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Court,  and  served  as 
an  honored  member  of  that  representative  body  of  old-time  Vir- 
g^inia  Clerks  for  seven  vears.  or  until  his  death. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         111 

Major  Wise  died  ]\Iarch  30,  1812.  and  lies  buried  among 
several  of  his  ancestors  at  "Clifton."  (For  an  extended  sketch 
of  Maj.  John  Wise,  see  "Memorials  of  Virginia  Clerks,"  John- 
ston, pp.  10-16.) 

By  his  first  wife,  Mary  Henry.  Maj.  John  Wise  had  four  sons: 

1.  John  James  \\'ise.     (See  Chapter  VII.) 

2.  James  Henry  Wise.     (See  Chapter  VII.) 

3.  George  Douglas  \\^ise.     (See  Chapter  VII.) 

4.  John  Henry  \\'ise.     (See  Chapter  VII.) 

By  his  second  wife.  Sarah  Corbin  Cropper,  Major  Wise  had 
six  children : 

1.  William  Washington  \\'ise.     Xo  issue. 

2.  Margaret  Douglas  Pettitt  Wise.     (See  Chapter  XII.) 

3.  James  Henry  Wise,  twin  of  M.  D.  P.  Wise.     X^o  issue. 

4.  Henry  Alexander  Wise.     (See  Chapter  XIV.) 

5.  John  Cropper  Wise.     (See  Chapter  XIII.) 

6.  Tully  Robinson  Scarburgh  Wise.     No  issue. 

Of  these  children.  William  Washington,  James  Henry,  and 
Tully  Robinson  Scarburgh  died  young. 

A  chart  is  here  inserted  showing  the  lineal  descent  of  the  first 
six  generations  of  the  family.  Beginning  with  the  sixth  gen- 
eration, the  family  subdivides  so  rapidly  that  no  chart  is  hence- 
forth practicable  within  reasonable  limits,  as  all  lines  shown  in 
the  sixth  generation  are  represented  by  numerous  issue. 


:  IN  VIRGINIA 


2.  John  cr 
m.  Pa 
(descel 


6.  Mary,  m.  Wm. 
Anderson. 


2.  Thomas 


inderson, 

n  Francis  Makemie. 


Comfort  Anderson, 
m.  Elias  Taylor. 


Ehzabeth  \™  ...      _       ,        , 
m.  MajojTabitha  Douglas,  d. 

(descend     *^°'-  George  Douglas. 


Dr.  Tully 
m.  Maryj^J^^- 

Irah  Luker. 


George  Douglas  Wise, 
m.  Catherine  Stewart. 
(Craney  Island  Branch.) 


Tullv  Robi^  I  ^  .  I 

m.'  Ann  fjeorge  Stewart  Wise.     Tully  R.  Wise, 

m.  Eliza  Stansberry.         m.  Mary  Bayne. 


Mary  S.  Wise, 
m.  Wm.  Happer 


I   Hamilton  Wise, 
.  Thos.  P.  Bagwell. 


5.  Tabitha  Susan  Wise, 

m.  Edmund  R.  Custis. 

6.  Martha  Washington  Wise. 

m.  Rilev. 


CHART  OF  THE  FIRST  SIX  GENERATIONS  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF  WISE  IN  VIRGINIA 


Col.  John  Wise,     =  Hannah  Scarburgh,  d. 
of  Accomack,  Capt.    Edmund    Scarburgh. 

b.  1617,  d.  1695. 

! 


2.  John  cr  "Johannes," 
m.  Parker 
(descendants). 


3.  William 

(descendants). 


Barbarv.  m. 
Arthur  Rnbi 


1.  Hon.  John  Wise, 
d.  1717. 


Matilda  West,  d. 
Lt.-Col.  John  West 
and  Matilda  Scarburgh. 


5.  Hannah,  m. 

John  Scarburgh. 


6.  Mary,  m.  Wm. 
Anderson. 


2.  Thomas  Wise.      3.  Samuel  Wise. 


4  Mary  Cade  Wise. 

m.   Scarburgh. 

5  Elizabeth. 


1.  Col.  John  Wise, 
d.  1767. 


Scarburgh  Robinson,  d. 
Col.  Tullv  Robinson. 


I 
6.  Hannah  Scarburgh  Wise. 


Naomi  Anderson, 
m.  John  Francis  Makemie. 


Comfort  Anderson, 
m.  Elias  Taylor. 


Elizabeth  Wise  (Cassia),  Mary  Wise, 

m.  Major  Thomas  Custis      m.  Smith 
(descendants).  (descendants). 


Col.  John  Wise,     =  Margaret  Douglas,  d. 
b.  July  27,  1723.  Col.  George  Douglas. 

d.  March,  1769. 


Tully  Robinson  Wise  =  Tabitha  Douglas,  d. 

Col.  George  Douglas. 


Dr.  TuUy  Robinson  Wise, 
m.  Mary  White. 


Ann  Wise, 

m.  Thomas  Parsons 
(descendants). 


■  Wise, 
Outten. 


Major  John  Wise, 
b.  about  1765, 
d.  1812. 


Mary  Henry,  d. 

Judge  James  Henry. 
Sarah  Corbin  Cropper,  d. 

Gen.  John  Cropper. 


Elizabeth  Wise, 
b.  March  4,  1758. 


John  Wise. 
(No  issue.) 


I 
Scarburgh  Wise. 


Tully  Wise, 
d.   1817. 
m.  Sarah  Luker. 


Tully  Robinson  Wise, 
m.  Ann  Kitson  Evans. 


Mary  Wise, 
m.  Sam'l  Lit*Ieton  Floyd. 


Eleanor  Wise, 
m.  Wm.  Sam'l  Custis. 


Henry  Alexander  Wise,  m. 

1.  Anne  Jennings. 

2.  Sarah  Sergeant. 

3.  Mary  Lyons. 


John  Cropper  Wise, 
m.  .\nne  Finney. 


4.  Margaret  Douglas  Pettitt  Wise, 
m.  Hon.  Tully  Robinson  Wise. 


1.  John  James  Wise, 

m.  Harriet  Wilkins. 


George  Douglas  Wise, 
m.  Catherine  Stewart. 
(Craney  Island  Branch.) 


George  Stewart  Wise, 
m.  Eliza  Stansberrv. 


Tully  R.  Wise,  Mary  S.  Wise, 

m.  Mary  Bayne.        m.  Wm.  Happer 


1.  Hon.  Tully  Robinson  Wise, 
m.   Margaret  D.  P.  Wise. 


2    John  Robinson  Wise, 
m.  Eliza  Coward. 


3.  Susan  Christian  Wise, 
m.  W.  G.  Parker. 


4.  Sarah   Hamilton  Wise, 
m.  Dr.  Thos.  P.  Bagwell. 


5,  Tabitha  Susan  Wise. 

m.  Edmund  R.  Custis. 

6.  Martha  Washington  Wise. 

m.  Riley. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Descendants  of  Major  John  Wise  V.  and  His  First 
Wife,  Mary  Henry. 


By  his  first  wife.  Mary  Henry.  ]\Iaj.  John  Wise  had: 

1.  John  Henry  Wise,  born  April  19.  1789.  and  died  young. 

2.  George  Douglas  Wise,  born  November  5.  1790. 

3.  James  Henn-  Wise,  born  May  11.  1793.  and  died  young. 

4.  John  James  Wise,  born  September  8.  1794.  and  died  in 
1834. 

2.  George  Douglas  ^^'ise  attained  maturity,  inherited  his 
father's  estate,  and  died  without  marrying. 

4.  John  James  Wise  succeeded  to  the  family  estate  and  mar- 
ried Harriet  Wilkins.  They  had  Dr.  John  James  Henrv-  Wise 
and  Capt.  George  Douglas  Wise,  born  September  17,  1831,  died 
July  5,  1864,  to  whom  the  family  estates  passed  and  in  whose 
possession  they  remained  until  the  year  1867,  when  they  were 
sold  to  settle  up  the  estate  of  the  latter,  who  was  the  assistant 
inspector  general  in  Wise's  Brigade.  Bushrod  Johnson's  Divi- 
sion, Anderson's  Corps.  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  and  who 
died  from  the  effect  of  wounds  received  in  June.  1864,  in  the 
trenches  before  Petersburg,  while  serving  on  Gen.  H.  A.  Wise's 
(his  uncle's)  staff.  His  wife  was  Marietta  Atkinson,  daughter 
of  Dr.  Archibald  Atkinson,  of  Smithfield.  Isle  of  A\'ight  County. 
They  had  one  child.  ]\Iarietta  \\"ise,  spinster,  of  Drummondtown. 
\^a.  (1917).  She  inherited  the  estate  of  her  bachelor  uncle, 
Dr.  John  James  Henry  \\'ise.  and  is  the  only  surviving  descend- 
ant of  Maj.  John  Wise  by  his  first  wife. 

Dr.  John  James  Wise  was  born  January  11.  1830,  and  died 
unmarried  in  1896.  He  was  a  surgeon  in  the  Confederate  States 
Army,  and  served  as  such  in  the  field,  and  in  the  base  hospitals 
at  Richmond,  Danville,  and  elsewhere.  To  this  day  Dr.  Wise  is 
affectionately  remembered  on  the  Eastern  Shore  as  one  of  the 
most  benevolent  and  popular  of  Accomack's  sons. 

He  was  a  most  unusual  man.  and  a  remarkably  skillful 
practitioner.  Residing  on  his  farm  near  Drummondtown,  he 
practiced  his  profession  until  the  day  of  his  death.     His  funeral 


116 


Col.   TOHN  WISE 


was  a  memorable  occasion ;  hundreds  of  people,  rich  and  poor, 
from  all  sections  of  the  peninsula  assembled  to  do  honor  to  his 
memory.  Some  of  them  are  said  to  have  driven  over  one 
hundred  miles,  and  many,  who  did  not  own  a  horse  and  vehicle, 
walked  ijreat  distances. 


DR.  JOHN   JAMES  VISE 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Descendants  of  Tully  Robinson  Wise  I.  of  the 
Fourth  Generation,  and  Tabitha  Douglas. 


TuLLY  Robinson  Wise  I.,  son  of  John  Wise  III.  and  Scar- 
burgh  Robinson,  married  Tabitha  Douglas,  daughter  of  Col. 
George  Douglas,  and  sister  of  Margaret  Douglas,  who  married 
his  brother.  Col.  John  Wise  IV.  (See  Chapter  V.)  He  was 
also  a  prominent  man  in  his  county — principally  noted  as  a 
devoted  churchman,  being  a  communicant  and  vestryman  of  St. 
George's  Church,  Pungoteague,  known  from  its  shape  as  the 
"Ace  of  Clubs  Church,"  and  as  an  ardent  defender  of  the 
Church  of  England  against  the  assaults  of  the  Methodists  and 
Baptists. 

It  was  to  this  old  church  that  the  first  John  Wise  in  Acco- 
mack, vestryman,  gave  the  communion  service.  Tully  Robinson 
Wise  had  four  children :  John  Wise  and  Scarburgh  Wise,  both 
of  whom  died  young  and  unmarried ;  Tully  Robinson  Wise  II. 
and  George  Douglas  Wise,  called  "Craney  Island  George."  (See 
Chapter  IX.) 

Tully  Wise  II.,  son  of  Tully  Robinson  Wise  I.  and  Tabitha 
Douglas,  died  in  1817.  He  was  born  about  1758.  He,  like  his, 
first  cousin,  Maj.  John  Wise,  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution. 
(''Revolutionary  Soldiers  of  Virginia,"  Ekenrode,  p.  479.) 
Tully  Wise  was  a  delegate  to  the  first  convention  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  which  met  in  Richmond  in  1785.  He  married 
Sarah  Luker,  daughter  of  Luke  Luker,  and  had  issue  of  the 
sixth  generation : 

1.  Tully  Robinson  Wise  HI. 

2.  John  Robinson  Wise. 

3.  Susan  Christian  Wise. 

4.  Tabitha  Scarburgh  Wise. 

5.  Elizabeth  Douglas  Wise. 

6.  Martha  Washington  Wise. 

7.  Sarah  Hamilton  Wise. 

1.  Tully  Robinson  Wise  HI.  married  his  double  cousin,  Mar- 
garet Douglas  Pettitt  Wise,  only  daughter  of  his  father's 
brother,  Maj.  John  Wise.  (See  Chapter  XII.  for  their 
descendants. ) 


120  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

2.  John  Robinson  Wise  married  Eliza  Coward  and  had  issue 
George  Douglas  Wise  and  John  Robinson  Wise,  neither  of 
whom  had  issue.  Catherine  Wise,  the  third  child,  married,  first. 
Hugh  Powell.  l:)v  whom  slie  had  no  issue ;  and,  second,  William 
P.  Bayly,  by  whom  she  had  Charles  and  William  Bayly.  The 
fourth  child,  Sallie  Wise,  married  George  S.  Powell  and  had 
issue :  Eliza  Powell,  who  married  A.  J.  Mears ;  Virginia  Powell, 
Avho  married  Nathaniel  Smith ;  Elizabeth  Powell,  wdio  married 
George  E.  Harris;  and  Lillian  Powell,  who  married  Albert  J. 
Pietsch. 

3.  Susan  Christian  Wise  married  W.  O.  Parker  and  had 
issue:   1.  Tully  Wise  Parker,  and  2.  Hon.  John  Wise  H.  Parker. 

Tully  Wise  Parker  married,  first,  Peggy  Evans  and  had  issue : 
Susan  Parker,  who  married  Edward  P.  Custis ;  and  Peggy 
Parker,  w^ho  married  Thomas  Corbin ;  and,  second,  Susan  Neely, 
by  whom  he  had  Charles  and  Mary  Parker.  Hon.  John  W.  H. 
Parker  married  Sarah  Topping  and  had  issue :  Susan  Parker, 
^vho  married  Douglas  Fletcher;  Sarah  S.  Parker,  who  married 
Robert  P.  Custis  and  had  Clarence  and  John  Custis ;  and  Tully 
Wise  Parker,  who  married  Agnes  W.  Parker  and  had  issue 
John,  Page,  and  Tully  Wise  Parker. 

4.  Tabitha  Scarburgh  Wise  married  Edmund  R.  Custis  and 
had  issue :  Mary  T.  T.  Custis.  who  married  Dr.  W.  S.  Horsey, 
no  issue ;  and  Sallie  Wise  Custis,  who  married  Dr.  W.  S. 
Horsey  after  her  sister's  death,  and  had  no  issue. 

5.  Elizabeth  Douglas  Wise  died  a  spinster. 

6.  Martha  Washington  Wise  married  Riley,  no  issue. 

7.  Sarah  Hamilton  Wise  married  Dr.  Thomas  P.  Bagwell,  of 
Onancock,  and  had  issue:  1.  George  H.  Bagwell,  who  married 
Rose  D.  Twyford  and  had  issue :  Adele  H.  Bagwell,  Robert  W. 
Bagw'ell,  Thomas  P.  Bagwell.  Harriet  T.  Bagwell,  George  McD. 
Bagwell.  Sarah  E.  Bagwell,  and  Eaith  Bagwell;  2.  Sallie  W. 
Bagwell,  who  married  Thomas  R.  Joynes  and  has  issue : 
Catherine  T.  Joynes.  and  Virginia  W.  Joynes,  who  married 
Rev.  H.  S.  Grifi'eth  and  had  issue  Ruth  D.  Griffeth,  Helen  S. 
Griffeth,  and  Virginia  \\'.  Grifi'eth ;  3.  EHzabeth  M.  Bagwell,  who 
married  Dr.  E.  R.  Leatherbury  and  had  issue :    Sarah,  Eva,  and 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         121 

Thomas  Leatherbiiry ;  4.  Gen.  Edmund  Robinson  Bagwell,  who 
married  Maggie  Bagwell  and  had  issue :  Catherine  Douglas  Bag- 
well, who  married  T.  B.  Quinby,  Lillian  Wise  Bagwell,  Mar- 
garet Robinson  Bagwell,  and  Anna  Claude  Bagwell ;  5.  Thomas 
P.  Bagwell :  6.  Margaret  Susan  Bagwell,  who  married  Rev. 
Wm.  H.  Gordon ;  7.  Anna  Douglas  Bagwell,  who  married  Dr. 
D.  C.  Handy,  of  Annapolis,  Md.,  and  had  Anna  Gordon  Handy, 
Elizabeth  Chapman  Handy,  and  Claude  Douglas  Handy. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Craney  Island  Branch. 


George  Douglas  Wise  and  His  Descendants. 


For  a  century  and  a  half  the  Wises  remained,  with  but  one 
exception — Wilham  Wise,  son  of  the  immigrant,  who  removed 
to  York  County  in  1690 — on  the  Eastern  Shore. 

Col.  John  Wise  III.  married,  as  we  have  seen,  Scarburgh 
Robinson,  daughter  of  Col.  Tully  Robinson,  whose  father  was 
Col.  William  Robinson,  a  Welshman,  of  Lower  Norfolk  County. 
The  Robinsons  had  long  been  settled  on  the  shores  of  Norfolk 
Harbor  on  a  plantation  known  as  "Craney  Island,"  its  name 
being  taken  from  a  small  island  in  the  roadstead  of  the  inner 
harbor.  This  little  islet  is  familiar  to  all  who  have  visited  the 
beautiful  harbor  of  Norfolk.  During  the  Revolution  Craney 
Island  was  fortified,  and  later  utilized  in  the  War  of  1812  as  a 
military  station.  In  1861  its  defences  were  greatly  improved 
by  the  Confederates,  and  heavy  guns  were  mounted  in  its  works. 

The  "Craney  Island"  estate  proper  was  an  exceptionally  fine 
one.  Small  wonder  then  that  when  this  inheritance  came  to 
George  Douglas  Wise,  the  great-grandson  of  Col.  William 
Robinson,  he  should  have  abandoned  the  home  of  his  father, 
Tully  Robinson  Wise,  and  removed  from  the  Eastern  Shore 
to  take  possession  of  "Craney  Island." 

George  Douglas  Wise  was  the  third  son  of  Tully  Robinson 
Wise  I.  and  Tabitha  Douglas.  He  was  born  in  Accomack 
County,  February  21,  1760,  outliving  all  of  his  sons  by  many 
years. 

By  reason  of  his  residence  at  "Craney  Island"  and  his  con- 
sequent separation  from  the  Eastern  Shore  family  from  which 
he  was  sprung,  he  was  known  as  "Craney  Island  George."  He 
was  married  twice;  the  second  time,  April  20,  1794,  to  Mary 
Wishart,  the  widow  of  John  Bayne,  and  by  her  had  no  issue. 
His  first  wife  was  Katherine  Elizabeth  Stewart,  the  daughter  of 
Andrew  Stewart,  of  "Bowling  Green,"  Norfolk  County.  This 
marriage  occurred  October  3,  1783.  Andrew  Stewart,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  of  Welsh  descent,  was  a  wealthy  landowner, 
and  was  for  many  years  County  Surveyor.  His  name  appears 
frequently  among  his  Wise  descendants. 


126  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

George  Douglas  Wise,  or  "Craney  Island  George,"  and 
Katherine  Elizabeth  Stewart  had  six  children,  the  oldest  of 
whom  was  but  ten  years  old  when  their  father  married  a  second 
time.  As  twins  were  born  to  Katherine  Stewart  January  8, 
1793,  and  George  Douglas  W^ise  married  Mary  Wishart  April 
20,  1794,  he  was  a  widower  but  little  over  a  year.  His  children 
were : 

1.  George  Stewart  Wise,  died  in  infancy. 

2.  George  Douglas  Wise,  born  January  7,  1788,  and  died 
February  5.  1788. 

3.  George   Stewart  Wise,  born   September  8,   1789;    died 
May  24.  1824.     (See  Chapter  XI.) 

4.  John   Wise,   born   January  8.    1793;    died   January    12, 
1793.     (Twin.) 

5.  Mary  Elizabeth  \Mse,  born  January  8.  1793.      (Twin.) 

6.  Tully    Robinson   Wke,   born   July    13,    1784,    and    died 
December  16,  1825.     (See  Chapter  X.) 

Three  of  these  six  children  attained  maturity  and  left  de- 
scendants who  will  be  separately  traced,  those  of  Mary  Elizabeth 
Wise  only  in  this  chapter. 

MaT}r  Elizabeth  Wise  married  William  Happer.  had  two  sons, 
George  Douglas  Happer.  born  April  13,  1813,  died  September, 
1880,  and  Willis  William  Happer.  George  Douglas  Happer  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Ann  White,  who  was  born  February  2,  1815,  and 
died  March  19.  1877.  They  had  eight  children,  one  of  whom, 
Richard  Walton  Baugh  Happer,  born  February  14,  1847,  died 
November  1,  1892,  married  Mary  Thomas  Marshall,  born 
October  19,  1852,  and  had  eleven  children,  among  whom  was 
Henry  Alexander  Wise  Happer.  of  Harrisonburg.  Va..  born 
December  21.  1878.  married,  November  23.  1910.  Lillian  Ann 
Dechert,  daughter  of  Wilmer  Lee  Dechert.  and  had  Henry 
Alexander  Wise  Happer,  Jr.,  born  January  9,  1915.  R.  W.  B. 
Happer  above  was  a  New  Market  cadet  and  surrendered  with 
Johnston's  Army. 

Willis  William  Happer  married  Cornelia  W.  Blount,  liad  six 
children,  three  of  whom  married  Bumgardner,  Fowle,  and 
Faison,  respectively,  leaving  numerous  progeny,  many  of  whom 
are  settled  about  Portsmouth,  Va.,  and  in  North  Carolina. 


CHAPTER  X. 
Virginia  Division  of  the  "Craney  Island"  Branch. 


TuLLY  Robinson  Wise,  the  senior  son  of  "Craney  Island 
George,"  to  leave  descendants,  and  the  propositor  of  the  present 
Virginia  division  of  the  "Craney  Island"  branch  of  the  Wise 
family,  was  born  July  13,  1784,  being  five  years  the  senior  of 
Capt.  George  Stewart  Wise,  his  brother,  who  was  the  propositor 
of  the  Baltimore  and  Navy  division.  He  married,  March  31, 
1807,  Mary  Bayne,  and  died  December  16.  1825,  the  year  fol- 
lowing the  death  of  his  brother.  His  wife  was  probably  a 
daughter  of  his  stepmother,  Mary  Wishart  or  the  widow  Bayne. 
They  had  issue : 

1.  John  Stewart  Wise. 

2.  Andrew  Jackson  Wise,  died  unmarried. 

3.  Elizabeth  Wise. 

4.  Margaret  Douglas  Wise. 

5.  Andrew  Wise. 

Of  these  children,  Ehzabeth  Wise  married  Wilham  Deans, 
Amelia  Wise  married  E.  G.  Williamson  and  had  five  daughters, 
and  Margaret  Douglas  Wise,  born  October  1,  1816,  died 
February  28,  1854,  married,  December  5,  1839,  John  Thomas 
Bidgood  and  had : 

1.  Tully  Wise  Bidgood. 

2.  Willis  Deans  Bidgood. 

3.  Margaret  Douglas  Bidgood. 

4.  William  Joseph  Bidgood. 

5.  Joseph  White  Bidgood. 

6.  Thomas  Wise  Bidgood. 

The  only  son  of  Tully  Robinson  Wise  of  "Craney  Island"  to 
leave  descendants  was  John  Stewart  Wise,  born  August  3,  1814, 
died  June  21,  1865,  who  was  physically  incapacitated  for  military 
service  during  the  Civil  War.  He  married  tliree  times :  First, 
December  18,  1834,  Martha  Anne  Love,  born  February  10, 
1816,  died  November  21,  1846,  daughter  of  John  Love  and 
Elizabeth  Love;  second,  December  2,  1847,  Emma  Jane  Wright, 
daughter  of  James  Wright;  third,  December  15,  1859,  Mary  F. 
Love,  the  widow  of  John  Love. 


130  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

By  Martha  Anne  Love,  John  Stewart  Wise  had  six  children : 

1.  Harriet  Flora  Wise,  born  Julv  21,  1836;   died  Xovember 
20,  1841. 

2.  Tully   Robinson    Wise,    born   January   29,    1838;     died 
January  3,  1868. 

3.  Frederick   William   Wise,    born    March   2,    1840;    died 
February  20.  1909. 

4.  Josepha   Ann   Wise,   born   ^Slax   17,    1842;    now   living 
(1916). 

5.  George  Alexander  Wise,   born  January  2,    1845;    died 
August  19,  1855. 

6.  Martha  Ann  Wise,  born  Xovember  16,  1846. 

By  Emma  Jane  \\'right,  John  Stewart  \\Mse  had  six  children : 

7.  James   Wright   Wise,   born   September    13.    1848;    died 
September  15,  1849. 

8.  John  Stewart  Wke,  born  August  19,   1849;    died  Mav 
31,  1907. 

9.  Mary   Virginia   Wise,   born    Xovember    5,    1850;    died 
March  13,  1914. 

10.  Andrew  Wise,  born  Mav  11,   1852;    died  December  6. 
1901. 

11.  James  Poplar  Wise,  born  October  29.  1853;   died  ^larch 
20.  1913. 

12.  Emma  Jane  Wise,  born  September  16,  1855;    died  Mav 
25,   1856. 

By  his  third  wife,  the  widow  Love.  John  Stewart  Wise  had 
one  child ; 

13.  Hortense  B.  Wise. 

Of  these  children.  Josepha  married  John  E.  Wright  and  had 
issue ;  Bowdy  Wright,  John  E.  \\^right,  Linwood  \\*right.  and 
Linda  Wright. 

Martha  Ann  married  S.  B.  Carney  and  had  issue :  Pearly 
Carney,  Stephen  B.  Carney,  and  Margaret  K.  Carney. 

Mary  Virginia  married  H.  R.  Anderson  and  had  issue  Stewart 
Wise  Anderson,  Professor  Virginia  Military  Institute. 

Hortense  married  the  Rev.  ]\Ir.  Hines. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         131 

John  Stewart  married  and  had  issue  Worthy  Wise  and  Mary 
Stewart  Wise. 

Frederick  Wilham  Wise,  of  Newport  News  and  Norfolk 
County,  who  called  himself  \\"illiam  Frederick,  the  third  child 
of  John  Stewart  Wise  by  his  first  wife,  was  born  at  Flora  Point, 
March  2,  1840,  and  died  February  20,  1909.  He  served  in  the 
Confederate  Army.  Like  his  father  he  was  married  three  times : 
first,  October  19,  1865,  to  Lucy  Ann  Ballerd;  second,  March 
21,  1871,  to  Mary  Worthy  Nelms ;  third,  April  1,  1886,  to 
Fannie  E.  Krozer. 

Lucy  Ann  Ballerd.  the  daughter  of  Robert  M.  Ballerd  and 
Margaret  Ballerd,  was  born  in  Nansemond  County,  March  25, 
1843,  and  died  September  20,  1866.  She  bore  one  son,  William 
Lucy  Wise,  born  at  Hatton's  Point,  Va.,  September  18,  1866, 
who,  after  graduating  from  the  University  of  Virginia  in  1886, 
married,  first,  Lucy  T.  Redd,  daughter  of  James  E.  Redd  and 
Sally  Byrd,  by  whom  he  had  Byrd  Wise,  who  died  in  infancy; 
and,  second,  August  2,  1913,  Aline  Richardson,  the  adopted 
daughter  of  Charles  and  Lilly  Garrett,  by  whom  he  had 
^^^illiam  Lucy  Wise,  Jr.,  born  March  24,  1914. 

Mary  Worthy  Nelms,  the  second  wife  of  William  Frederick 
Wise,  was  born  August  28,  1851,  and  died  September  19,  1874. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  George  Thomas  Nelms,  of  Isle  of 
Wight  County,  Virginia,  born  January  25,  1827,  and  died  April 
29,  1905,  and  Alexine  Virginia  Nelms,  born  x\ugust  2,  1831, 
and  died  December  27,  1897. 

She  had  issue  Emma  Stewart  Wise  and  George  Nelms  Wise. 

George  Nelms  Wise  was  born  at  Hatton's  Point,  Norfolk 
County,  Virginia,  September  13,  1874.  He  attended  Church- 
land  Academy  in  Norfolk  County  from  September,  1887,  to 
June,  1891,  and  entering  the  Virginia  Military  Institute  in 
September,  1891,  was  graduated  in  June,  1894.  In  1896  he 
received  the  degree  of  B.  L.  at  the  University  of  Virginia, 
which  he  attended  for  two  years.  From  that  time  he  has  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  in  Newport  News,  Va., 
where  he  now  resides.     August  31,  1904,  he  married  Gatewood 


132  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Warwick  Stephenson,  the  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Wilson 
Stephenson,  of  Bath  County,  Virginia,  and  Eliza  Warwick. 
The  issue  of  this  union  is : 

1.  Tully  Robinson  Wise,  born  January  2,  1912. 

2.  George  Xelms  Wise,  Jr.,  born  August  24,  1914. 

3.  John  \\'ilson  Stephenson  \Y\st,  born  June,  1916. 

Emma  Stewart  Wise,  born  December  11,  1872,  married  John 
Bray  Lindsay,  son  of  Ambrose  H.  Lindsay,  and  had  issue : 

1.  ]\Iargaret  Lindsay,  born  May  23,  1901  ;  died  in  infancy. 

2.  Mary   Kingman   Wise   Lindsay,   born   April    11,    1899; 
now  hving  in  Portsmouth. 

From  the  foregoing  record  of  the  Virginia,  or  elder  division 
of  the  "Craney  Island"  branch,  it  is  seen  that  there  are  but 
six  male  members  of  that  branch  of  the  family  in  \"irginia  in 
1917,  viz.:  William  Lucy  ^^'ise.  of  Churchland,  Va.,  and  an 
infant  son,  and  George  Xelms  \\'ise.  Esq.,  of  Newport  News, 
Va.,  and  three  infant  sons. 


CHAPTER  XI 

"Baltimore"  and  "Navy"  Division  of  the 
"Craney  Island"  Branch. 


Although  "Craney  Island  George,"  or  George  Douglas 
Wise,  left  many  descendants,  as  we  have  seen,  who  have  re- 
mained in  Virginia  about  Norfolk,  Portsmouth,  and  Newport 
News,  the  descendants  of  his  son,  Capt.  George  Stewart  Wise, 
are  widely  dispersed,  and  none  of  them  have  lived  in  Virginia. 
They  have  settled  in  New  York,  Baltimore,  Washington,  and 
the  far  West,  and  between  them  and  their  Virginia  relatives 
there  has  been  very  little  intimate  association,  as  in  the  case 
of  all  the  other  branches  of  the  family.  During  the  War 
between  the  States  their  service  was  exclusively,  and  very 
naturally,  in  the  Union  Army  and  Navy,  as  their  residence  had 
long  been  in  the  North,  and  they  had  without  exception  mar- 
ried in  that  quarter.  To-day  this  division  of  the  "Craney 
Island"  branch  is  more  numerous  than  the  Virginia  division. 

It  should  be  here  noted  that  Col.  John  Wise  III.  is  the 
common  ancestor  of  the  "Craney  Island"  Wises  and  the  de- 
scendants of  Maj.  John  Wise  V.,  and  that  the  Wises  of  these 
two  branches  in  the  ninth  generation  are  fifth  cousins. 

Due  to  the  fact  that  George  Stewart  Wise,  son  of  "Craney 
Island  George,"  or  George  Douglas  Wise,  entered  the  Navy, 
and  had  a  son,  a  grandson,  and  a  great-grandson  in  the  Navy, 
and  a  son  and  a  grandson  who  made  their  homes  in  Balti- 
more, his  subdivision  of  the  "Craney  Island"  branch  of  the 
Virginia  family  of  Wise  is  very  often  spoken  of  as  the  "Navy" 
or  "Baltimore"  Wises,  though  the  latter  designation  properly 
applies  to  but  one  line  of  his  descendants.  This  branch  of  the 
family  does  not  include  Commodore  John  Cropper  Wise  and  his 
son,  Lieut.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  both  of  the  Navy. 

Capt.  George  Stewart  Wise,  the  junior  son  of  "Craney 
Island  George"  to  attain  maturity,  was  born  at  "Craney 
Island,"  September  8,  1789.  When  he  was  four  years  of  age 
his  own  mother  died,  and  from  his  fifth  year  he  was  raised  by  a 
stepmother,  who  later  reared  his  own  children  at  "Craney 
Island." 

Sprung  from  a  line  of  forebears  who  had  lived  on  the 
Chesapeake    for   near   two  hundred  years,   and   reared   on   the 


136 


Col.   JOHN  WISE 


shores  of  Norfolk  Harbor,  it  was  not  unnatural  that  he  should 
have  fancied  a  career  in  the  Navy,  which  in  the  troublous  days 
of  his  early  manhood  offered  many  attractions.  March  28, 
1810,  he  was  appointed  Purser  in  the  United  States  Navy,  re- 
ceiving his  warrant  of  office  that  date.  March  27,  1811.  he 
was  assigned  to  the  brig  Oneida,  and  June  25th   following  to 


CAPT.   GEORGE  STEWART   WISE,   U.   S.    Navy 


the  Wasp.  April  25,  1812,  he  was  appointed  Captain  and  Pay- 
master, U.  S.  Navy.  It  was  in  his  twenty-third  year  that  he 
took  part  as  an  officer  of  the  Wasp  in  the  memorable  naval 
encounter  between  that  ship  and  the  British  ship  Frolic,  on  the 
18th  of  October,  1812,  receiving  as  a  member  of  the  ship's 
company  the  Congressional  medal,  the  original  of  which  is  now 
in  possession  of  his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Archibald  Hopkins, 
of  Washington,  D.  C. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         137 

May  24,  1813,  he  was  assigned  to  the  Macedonean  at  New 
London,  Conn.,  and  to  the  New  York  Station.  Soon  after  this 
he  married  Catherine  Stansberry,  of  Delaware,  a  member  of  the 
distinguished  Delaware  family  of  that  name,  and  died  November 
20,  1824,  having  served  with  credit  throughout  the  War  of  1812, 
in  which  he  and  his  first  cousin  once  removed — Maj.  John  Wise 
— were  the  only  representatives  of  the  family. 


CATHERINE   STANSBERRY 
Wife  of  Capt.   George   Stewart   Wise 

Capt.  George  Stewart  Wise  was  but  thirty-five  years  old  when 
he  died.  His  widow  survived  him  and  made  her  home  at 
"Craney  Island"  with  her  husband's  father.  There  she  reared 
her  two  sons,  Gen.  George  Douglas  Wise  and  Capt.  Henry 
Augustus  Wise.  After  their  grandfather's  death  in  1839  they 
became  the  wards  of  their  second  cousin,  Henry  Alexander 
Wise. 


138  ^  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Gen.  George  Douglas  Wise  was  1x)rn  in  1817.  He  married 
Laura  May  of  Baltimore  and  settled  in  that  city,  thus  founding 
the  so-called  "Baltimore"  family  of  the  name  of  Wise.  Septem- 
ber 28,  1861,  he  was  appointed  captain  and  assistant  quarter- 
master of  United  States  Volunteers.  From  April  2,  1864,  to 
January  1,  1867,  he  served  as  colonel  and  cjuartermaster,  and 
was  breveted  brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  March  13,  1865, 
for  faithful  and  meritorious  service  during  the  war.  October 
1,  1867,  he  was  mustered  out  of  the  service.  Surviving  his  first 
wife,  who  died  July  1,  1870,  he  remarried,  and  died  March  18, 
1881. 

Gen.  George  Douglas  Wise  and  Laura  ^May  had  the  fol- 
lowing issue : 

1.  Capt.  Frederick  ]\Iay  Wise. 

2.  Kate  Wise,  deceased;    married  Samuel  Hoar,  of  Massa- 
chusetts.     No  issue. 

3.  George  W.  Wise,  of  Wyoming,  deceased.     No  issue. 

4.  Charles  Wise,  deceased.     No  issue. 

Capt.  Frederick  Alay  Wise  was  born  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
May  19,  1844,  and  was  educated  in  Vervay,  Switzerland.  A 
fa\'orite  of  his  uncle — Capt.  Henry  Augustus  Wise,  of  the  Navy 
— he,  too,  early  acquired  a  fancy  for  the  sea.  When  the  War 
between  the  States  broke  out  he  was  but  seventeen  years  of  age. 

The  following  record  of  his  service  is  taken  from  Hemsley's 
Records  (1902),  p.  143: 

"Frederick  Alay  Wise  entered  the  service  as  Master  Mate  in 
the  United  States  gunboat  flotilla.  Western  Waters,  January  1, 
1862;  staff  duty  on  headquarters'  boat  Cairo  III.;  ordered  to 
U.  S.  Gunboat  Lc.viugfoii,  February  28,  1862,  for  the  expedition 
up  the  Tennessee  River;  in  action  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  Tenn., 
Alarch  2,  1862.  between  the  gunl)oats  and  Confederate  battery; 
in  the  demonstration  by  the  flotilla  under  Flag  Officer  Foote 
against  the  batteries  at  Columbus,  Ky.,  March  4,  1862;  in  the 
Lexington  at  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing  (or  Shiloh),  April 
6  and  7,  1862,  and  of  Fort  St.  Charles,  White  River,  Ark., 
June  17,  1862,  between  the  flotilla  under  Capt.  A.  H.  Kilty, 
U.  S.  N.,  and  Confederates  under  Capt.  Joseph  E.  Bry,  C.  S.  N. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         139 

(formerly  Lieutenant  U.  S.  N. ),  and  when  the  Mound  City  was 
struck  by  a  shell  killing  125  out  of  the  crew  of  150;  detached 
from  Lexington,  July,  1862,  and  to  ordnance  duty  at  Cairo,  and 
recruiting  service  Chicago. 

"Entered  the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy  as  midshipman,  Septem- 
ber, 1862;    resigned  from  the  voluntary  navy;    graduated  June, 


CAPT.    FREDERICK   MAY   WISE,    U.    S.    Navy 

1867;  ordnance  duty  at  Naval  Yard,  New  Hampshire,  to  flag- 
ship Piscataqua,  October.  1867,  and  as  aide  to  Rear  Admiral 
Rowan,  commanding  Asiatic  Station.  Promoted  to  ensign 
January,  1869;  returned  to  the  U.  S.  in  Iroquoise,  April,  1870. 
Promoted  to  Master,  April,  1870,  to  Shenandoah,  European 
squadron,  July,  1870,  and  to  Guerrler,  September,  1870. 
Promoted  to  Lieutenant,  March,  1872,  and  ordered  to  the 
Frolic,  Port  Admiral's  flagship,  New  York  Station,  and  as  Flag 
Lieutenant    to    \^ice-Admiral    Rowan:     to    flagship    Hartford, 


140  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

January,  1876;  to  Naval  Academy,  August,  1877;  to  Despatch 
(special  service),  Septenil^er,  1880;  to  Naval  Academy,  August, 
1883;  to  flagship  Lancaster,  South  Atlantic  and  European  sta- 
tions, September,  1887;  to  Navy  Department,  October,  1889; 
and  as  Superintendent  Naval  War  Record  Office,  1890. 

"Promoted  to  Lieutenant  Commander,  June,  1891  ;  to  train- 
ing ships  Monongahela  and  Essex,  June,  1893-6;  to  steel  In- 
spection Board,  Navy  Yard,  Washington,  as  member,  February, 
1896;    to  Naval  Academy,  July,  1896. 

"Promoted  to  Commander,  November  7,  1896;  commanding- 
school  ship  Enterprise.  September,  1898;  commanding  Mono- 
easy,  May  24,  1900." 

Captain  Wise  was  in  command  of  the  Monocasy  when  he  died, 
August  14,  1901,  as  a  result  of  his  brilliant  and  strenuous  service 
on  the  China  Station  during  the  Boxer  Insurrection,  for  which 
service  he  was  highly  commended.  He  died  just  as  his 
promotion  was  about  to  occur. 

Capt.  Frederick  May  Wise  married,  April  2,  1872,  Lizzie 
Danels  Adams,  daughter  of  John  P.  Adams  and  Eugenia  D. 
Danels,  of  Newburyport,  Mass.     They  had  the  following  issue : 

1.  John  Adams  Wise,  born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  January 
16,  1874.  Married,  in  1907,  Helen  WalHngford,  of 
Omaha,  Neb.,  and  now  resides  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

2.  Kate  Stansberry  Wise,  born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  April 
6,  1876;    died  Annapolis,  Md.,  1876. 

3.  Mary  Rowan  Wise,  born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  July  23, 
1878.  Married,  September,  1896,  John  Witherspoon 
Frick,  of  Baltimore,  and  had; 

1.  Leslie  Douglas  Wise  Frick,  born  February  2,   1899. 

2.  Frederick  May  Wise  Frick,  born  August  27,   1901. 

4.  Frederick  May  Wise,  born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  October 
6,  1880.  Major  U.  S.  Marine  Corps '( 1916).  Married, 
May  5.  1917,  Ethel  Hardy,  of  Radnor,  Pa. 

5.  Julia  Oelrichs  Wise,  born  in  Annapolis,  Md.,  July  22, 
1884. 

6.  Lizzie  Adams  \\'ise.  born  in  Washington,  D.  C,  Mav 
22,  1886;    died  1888. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         141 

7.  Elizabeth  Wyatt  Wise,  born  in  Annapolis,  Mel.,  May 
30,  1888.  Married,  May  22,  1909,  Josiah  Macy,  of 
Baltimore,  Mel,  now  resident  in  Morristown,  N.  J.,  and 
had: 

1.  Josiah  Macy,  born  April  20,  1910. 

2.  AHne  Wise  Macy,  born  November  10,  1911. 

3.  Elizabeth  Macy,  born  February  8,   1914. 

8.  Elinor  Douglas  Wise,  born  in  Annapolis,  Md.,  August 
19,  1890.  Married,  February  8,  1913,  Marie,  Odet, 
Armand,  Jean  de  Chapelle,  Marquis  de  Jumillac,  Due  de 
Fronsac  et  Due  de  Richelieu,  late  of  the  French  Army, 
and  now  resident  in  New  York  City. 

Capt.  Henry  Augustus  Wise,  the  second  son  of  Capt.  George 
Stewart  Wise,  was  born  May  24,  1819,  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy 
Yard.  When  his  father  died  he  was  a  child  of  but  five  years. 
His  early  childhood  was  spent  at  "Craney  Island,"  where  he 
was  raised  by  his  mother  in  the  home  of  his  aged  grandfather. 
There  was  much  that  was  romantic  in  his  career.  Sent  off  to 
boarding  school  at  an  early  age.  the  lure  of  the  sea  proved  so 
strong  for  him  that  he  ran  away  from  school,  and  in  1834,  at 
fifteen  years  of  age,  was  appointed  a  midshipman  in  the  Navy 
by  his  cousin  and  guardian — Henry  A.  Wise — then  a  member 
of  the  Naval  Committee  of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives. 
In  those  days  midshipmen  received  their  training  aboard  ships. 
In  his  delightful  novel — "Tales  for  the  Marines'' — he  recounts 
much  of  his  youthful  career  in  the  Navy,  and  in  another  novel — 
"Los  Gringos" — he  narrates  his  experience  as  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Mexican  War  in  which  he  served  with  marked  distinction  on 
the  razee  Independence,  taking  part  in  the  naval  operations  in 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  On  one  occasion  he  was  required  to  carry 
important  despatches  from  Mazatlan  to  Mexico  City  on  horse- 
back through  the  hostile  lines,  which  he  was  able  to  accomplish 
by  reason  of  his  familiarity  with  the  native  tongue  and  the 
country.  This  unusual  exploit  for  a  naval  officer  comprises  a 
most  brilliant  episode. 

When  gold  was  discovered  in  California  in  1848-9  he  was 
stationed  at  what  is  now  the  San  Francisco  Navy  Yard,  where 
he  was  associated  with  Lieut.  William  Tecumseh  Sherman. 


142 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


Between  the  Mexican  and  Civil  wars,  under  the  uom  de  plume 
of  "Harry  Gringos,"  Henry  Augustus  Wise,  who  was  a  gifted 
and  popular  writer,  found  time  to  write  "Los  Gringos,  or  an 
Interior  View  of  Mexico  and  California,  with  Wanderings  in 
Peru,  Chile,  and  Polynesia"  (1854):  "Tales  for  the  Marines" 
(1855);      "Scampavias:      From     Gibel-Tarek     to     Stamboul" 


CAPT.    HENRY    AUGUSTUS    WISE,    U.    S.    Navy 


(1857)  ;  "The  Story  of  the  Gray  African  Parrot"  (1859)  ;  and 
"Captain  Brand  of  the  Schooner  Centipede"  (1860-64),  besides 
contributing  regularly  to  various  scientific  technical  journals. 
\\^idelv  recognized  as  an  authority  on  ordnance  matters,  it  was 
while  he  was  in  France  recuperating  from  a  serious  injury  that 
he  was  directed  to  secretly  investigate  the  new  Krupp  steel  dis- 
coveries, then  of  great  interest  in  ordnance  circles.     After  many 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         143 

vain  efforts  he  was  able  to  trace  the  new  steel  to  its  source  in 
Sweden.  Shortly  before  the  Civil  \\'ar  he  accompanied  the 
Japanese  Commission  to  Japan. 

In  1861  he  was  subjected  to  the  most  severe  test  of  loyalty  to 
the  North.  Known  to  be  of  Southern  blood,  and  bearing  a 
name  then  very  prominent  in  connection  with  the  John  Brown 
affair,  yet  his  whole  life  had  been  spent  in  the  Navy,  and  both 
his  mother  and  wife  were  Northern  women.  Other  than  the 
few^  years  of  his  childhood  which  he  spent  at  "Craney  Island" 
in  Virginia  it  may  be  said  that  he  had  very  little  real  con- 
nection w  ith  the  South.  But  his  traditional  attachment  to  Vir- 
ginia was  intensely  strong,  and  his  devotion  to  his  guardian  and 
kinsman,  Henry  A.  Wise,  of  \^irginia.  was  marked.  Under 
these  circumstances,  then,  it  was  a  cruel  order  that  despatched 
him  on  the  Pawnee  to  Portsmouth — within  a  cannon's  shot  of 
"Craney  Island"  and  the  home  of  his  father — to  burn  the 
Gosport  Navy  Yard.  Steadfast  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  his 
duty,  he  carried  out  his  orders  to  the  letter,  and  later  burned 
the  Cwnherland. 

Promoted  lieutenant-commander  in  1862,  he  served  for  a  time 
as  Assistant  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Ordnance  and  Hydrog- 
raphy, and  then  became  Chief.  In  1866  he  was  promoted 
captain  and  died  in  Naples  April  3,  1869.  while  on  leave. 

Capt.  Henry  Augustus  \\'ise  married  Charlotte  Brooks 
Everett,  born  August  13.  1825,  died  December  15,  1879, 
daughter  of  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  of  Alassachusetts,  and  Char- 
lotte Gray  Brooks,  born  November  4,  1800,  died  July  2,  1859. 
Edward  Everett  was  born  in  Dorchester,  ^lass.,  April  11,  1794, 
and  died  January  15,  1865.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress 
from  1824  to  1834,  Alinister  to  England  from  1841  to  1845, 
President  of  Harvard  College  from  1846  to  1849,  succeeded 
Mr.  \\'ebster  as  Secretary  of  State  in  1852,  and  succeeded  Hon. 
John  Davis  in  the  U.  S.  Senate  in  1853,  resigning  in  1854. 

Captain  Wise  and  his  wife  had  issue; 

1.  Charlotte  Everett  \\"ise,  born  in  Cambridge,  Mass., 
June  7,  1851:  married.  November  14.  1878.  in  Wash- 
ington. D.  C,  Archibald  Hopkins,  born  February  20, 
1842,    the    son   of   Mark    Hopkins.    D.    D.,    and    Mary 


144  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Hubbell.  Archibald  Hopkins  was  colonel  of  the  37th 
Massachusetts  Volunteers  in  1861-5,  and  later  took  up 
his  residence  in  Washington,  where  for  many  years  he 
was  Clerk  of  the  U.  S.  Court  of  Claims.  All  of  his 
children  were  born  in  Washington.     They  were : 

1.  Charlotte  Wise  Hopkins,  born  August  16,  1879; 
married,  October  6,  1906.  Henry  Stuart  Patterson, 
of  New  York  City,  and  had  Edward  Fitzgerald 
Patterson,  born  August  24,  1912,  died  August  26, 
1912;  Charlotte  Hopkins  Patterson,  born  November 
18,  1910;  and  Henry  Stuart  Patterson,  Jr.,  born 
March  31.  1916:    died  January  21.  1917. 

2.  Mary  Hopkins,  born  November  18,  1880;  died 
August  13,  1912;  married,  October  7.  1911,  Craw- 
ford Blagden,  and  had  Crawford  Blagden.  Jr.,  born 
June  29,^1912. 

3.  Archibald  Hopkins.  Jr.,  born  March  20,  1884;  died 
December  14,   1889." 

4.  Amos  Lawrence  Hopkins,  born  November  13,  1882. 

2.  Henrietta  Augusta  W^ise,  born  in  Boston.  Mass.,  August 
21,  1860;  married,  first.  November  25,  1884,  Dr.  W.  K. 
Nicholson,  the  son  of  Walter  Lamb  Nicholson,  and  had 
Roger  Nicholson,  born  April  19,  1888;  and,  second. 
May  21,  1898,  Lieut.  John  Downes,  U.  S.  Navy,  retired, 
the  son  of  John  Downes  and  Frances  Foster. 

3.  Edward  Everett  Wise,  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  Novem- 
ber 14,  1854:  died  May  2,  1891;  married,  May  27, 
1880.  Marion  IMcAllister,  of  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  and 
had  Marion  Everett  Wise,  born  February  11,  1891,  who 
married,  May  10,  1913,  Charles  Carroll  Glover.  Jr., 
born  January  1.  1888.  the  son  of  Charles  Carroll  Glover 
and  Annie  Cunningham  Poor,  of  Washington,  D.  C. 
They  have  one  child.  Marion  Edith  Glover,  born  March 
17,  1915.  Edward  Everett  Wise  was  graduated  from 
the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy  in  1875,  and  resigned  as  an 
ensign  in   1877. 

4.  Katherine  Wise,  born  in  Spezia.  Italy,  December  19, 
1852:     married.    November   28,    1874.    in    AV'ashington, 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         145 

D.  C,  Lieut.  Jacob  W.  Miller,  U.  S.  Navy,  retired,  the 
son  of  Jacob  W.  Miller  and  Mary  Louisa  Maculloch, 
and  they  had  issue : 

1.  Henry  Wise  Miller,  born  in  Nice,  France,  November 
15,  1875;  married,  October  5,  1899,  in  New  York 
City,  Alice  Duer,  and  had  Denning  Duer  Miller,  born 
September  20,  1901. 

2.  Dorothea  Miller,  born  Morristown,  N.  J.,  July  16, 
1878;  married,  September  20,  1907,  James  Otis  Post, 
born  August  4.  1873,  and  had:  James  Otis  Post,  Jr., 
born  July  12,  1908;  Edward  Everett  Post,  born 
September  20,  1911;  and  Richard  Oliver  Post,  born 
August  14,  1914. 

3.  Charlotte  Everett  Miller,  born  in  Annapolis,  Md., 
November  15,  1880;  married,  June  16,  1906,  Robert 
Bonner  Bowler,  and  had  Robert  Bonner  Bowler,  Jr., 
born  May  24,  1907 ;  and  Katherine  Wise  Bowler, 
born  February  11,  1909. 


10 


CHAPTER  XIL 

Descendants  of  Margaret  Douglas  Pettitt  Wise 
OF  THE  Sixth  Generation. 


Daughter  of  Major  John  Wise  V.  and  Sarah 

CoRBiN  Cropper,  and  Wife  of  Hon. 

TuLLY  Robinson  Wise. 


Margaret  Douglas  Pettitt  Wise,  who  was  born  February 
4,  1803,  and  died  February  22,  1866,  was  the  only  daughter 
of  Maj.  John  Wise  V.  She  married  her  double  second  cousin, 
as  we  have  hereinbefore  noted,  Hon.  Tully  Robinson  Wise,  of 
Accomack,  born  March  16.  1797;    died  July  22,  1844. 


MARGARET  DOUGLAS  PETTITT  WISE 
Wife  of  Hon.   Tully  Robinson  Wise 

He  was  the  son  of  Tully  Wise  and  Sarah  Luker,  and  his 
father  was  the  son  of  Tully  Robinson  Wise  I.  and  Tabitha 
Douglas.  Tully  Robinson  Wise,  last  named,  was  the  brother  of 
Col.  John  Wise  IV.,  and  therefore  the  uncle  of  Margaret 
Douglas  Pettitt  Wise's  father. 

Hon.  Tully  Robinson  Wise  HI.,  of  "Deep  Creek."  twice 
represented  Accomack  County  in  the  Virginia  House  of  Dele- 


150  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

gates,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1844.  was  Fourth  Auditor 
of  the  U.  S.  Treasury.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he 
resided  in  \\' ashington.     He  had  the  following  children : 

1.  Sarah  Elizabeth  Wise,  born  November,  1825;  died 
July,  1864;    spinster. 

2.  Tully  Robinson  Wise.  Esq.,  born  July  12,  1827;  died 
May  12.  1884.  In  January,  1854,  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  San  Francisco.  Cal.,  to  which  place  his 
brother,  John  Henry  Wise,  had  preceded  him.  Edu- 
cated as  a  lawyer  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  James  E.  Calhoun,  son  of 
John  C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina.  The  firm  of 
Calhoun  &  Wise  was  a  most  successful  one  and  soon 
became  Calhoun,  W'ise,  and  Delatore,  the  junior  member 
being  Colonel  Delatore,  of  South  Carolina,  who  was  ap- 
pointed United  States  District  Attorney  by  President 
Buchanan.  ^Ir.  Calhoun  died  about  1861,  and  Tully 
Robinson  Wise  then  practiced  law  by  himself,  declining 
the  nomination  for  the  office  of  Superior  Judge  of  Cali- 
fornia. His  practice  was  a  large  one  and  he  was  rated 
as  among  the  ablest  and  most  successful  lawyers  in 
California. 

3.  John  Henry  Wise,  born  at  "Deep  Creek,"  July  19,  1829. 
When  twenty-four  years  of  age  he  left  Virginia  for  San 
Francisco,  arriving  there  May  12,  1853.  via  Panama. 
At  the  instance  of  Governor  Wise,  of  Virginia,  his  uncle, 
he  was  appointed  Special  Deputy  Collector  by  President 
Buchanan.  When  Virginia  seceded  from  the  Union,  he 
returned  to  Virginia  and  became  a  captain  in  the  Con- 
federate Army.  Returning  to  California,  after  the  war, 
he  was  appointed  Collector  of  the  Port  of  San  Francisco 
by  President  Cleveland.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the 
firm  of  Christy  &  Wise,  wool  merchants.  He  married 
Sarah  Anne  Merker,  born  in  St.  Louis,  August  27,  1845, 
died  Mav  16.  1896.  the  daughter  of  John  Merker,  born 
March  23,    1813,   died  December  3l',    1892,   and   Anna 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         151 

Stark,  his  wife,  born  March  27 ,  1819.  died  December  22, 
1908.    Of  this  union  there  were  three  children : 

1.  Harry  Edmund  Wise,  born  in  San  Francisco,  August 
28,  1868;  died  May  20.  1908.  Graduated  from 
Cornell  University,  and  became  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Christy  &  Wise,  wool  mercliants.  Declined  Demo- 
cratic nomination  for  Congress.  He  married, 
November  3,  1891,  Edith  Mabel  Whittemore, 
daughter  of  Daniel  Henry  Whittemore  and  Estelle 
M:  Whittemore,  his  wife.  They  had:  John  Henry 
Wise,  born  August  11,  1892;  Addington  Lee  Wise, 
born  September  18,  1894;  and  Peyton  Randolph 
Wise,  born  May  27,  1898. 

2.  Maud  Hunter  Wise,  born  in  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
March  3,  1870;    died  January  9,  1879. 

3.  George  Douglas  Wise,  born  in  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
November  9,  1879,  and  attended  Leland  Stanford 
University.  Defeated  as  Democratic  nominee  for 
Congress.  Married,  February  5,  1910,  Doris  Osgood 
Loskay,  daughter  of  Frank  J.  Loskay  and  May  Put- 
nam, his  wife,  and  they  had  Phyllis  Osgood  Wise, 
born  October  16,  1911.  George  Wise  and  his  father 
are  now  engaged  in  business  in  the  firm  of  Christy 
&  Wise,  of  San  Francisco,  wool  merchants. 

4.  Hon.   George  Douglas  Wise,  born  June  4,   1831 ;    died 

February  4,  1908.     (For  sketch  see  p.  152.) 

5.  James  Madison  Wise,  born  June  6,  1834;  died  Novem- 
ber 28,  1890.  Captain  C.  S.  A.  Married,  November 
18,  1880,  Ann  Dent  Dunlop,  daughter  of  James  Dunlop, 
of  Richmond,  Va.,  and  had  James  Dunlop  Wise,  Esq., 
born  May  10,  1882,  who  was  graduated  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virgina,  and  is  now  a  member  of  the  Rich- 
mond Bar. 

6.  Gen.  Peyton  Wise,  born  February  9,  1838;  died  March 
29,  1897.  Lieutenant-Colonel  C.  S.  A.  Adjutant- 
General    of    Virginia.      Married,    November    25,    1869, 


152  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Laura   Mason   Chilton,   daughter  of   Brig.-Gen.    Robert 
Hall  Chilton.  C.  S.  A.     (See  sketch,  p.  155.) 

7.  Franklin  Morgan  Wise,  born  March  16,  1841;  died 
October  28,  1901.  Married  Ellen  Tompkins,  daughter 
of  Col.  Christopher  Quarles  Tompkins,  of  Richmond, 
and  had  Ellen  Douglas  Wise,  born  December  2,  1882. 

8.  Lewis  Warrington  Wise,  born  November  4,  1844;  died 
April  5,  1917.  C.  S.  A.  Married,  November  26,  1896, 
Martha  Allen,  widow  of  Nathaniel  Macon  Wilson,  and 
daughter  of  William  Coates  Allen,  of  Richmond,  Va. 

The  military  service  of  the  sons  of  Hon.  Tully  Robinson 
Wise  and  Margaret  Douglas  Pettitt  Wise  appears  elsewhere. 
(See  Chapter  XIV,  p.  183.) 

From  the  foregoing  list  it  is  seen  that  Hon.  Tully  Robinson 
Wise  had  seven  sons  in  1861,  and  that  all  but  one  of  them 
served  in  the  Confederate  States  Army  in  spite  of  their  youth. 
Of  the  seven,  George,  Peyton,  and  Lewis  Warrington  were 
wounded.  The  careers  of  Capt.  George  Douglas  Wise  and 
Col.  Peyton  Wise  being  the  most  distinguished,  the  following 
accurate  sketches  from  the  "Confederate  Military  History," 
Vol.  III.,  pp.   1278,  1280,  are  appended: 

"Capt.  George  Douglas  Wise. 

"George  Douglas  \\'ise,  an  eminent  lawyer,  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  who  was  distinguished  alike  in  the  military  service  of  the 
Confederate  States,  and  as  a  representative  since  the  war,  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  was  born  in  Accomack 
County,  Virginia.  His  father,  Tully  Robinson  Wise,  also  a 
native  of  Accomack  County,  was  a  prosperous  planter,  who, 
though  educated  for  the  law,  never  practiced  that  profession, 
but  was  prominent  in  politics,  sat  in  the  Legislature,  and  served 
as  auditor  of  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United  States. 
At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  (George  D.  Wise)  accompanied 
his  parents  to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  he  held  for  a  time  the 
position  of  page  in  the  House.  He  subsequently  entered  the 
University  of  Indiana,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1853.  Then, 
taking  up  the  study  of  law,  he  was  graduated  by  William  and 
Mary  College  in  1857.     Returning  to  Washington  he  continued 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


153 


his  studies  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  upon  the  secession 
of  Virginia  he  abandoned  his  professional  career  and  returned 
to  Richmond.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Montgomery,  Ala.,  then 
the  capital  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  received  from  Presi- 
dent Davis  a  commission  as  lieutenant  in  the  regular  army.  Re- 
porting to  Gen.  R.  E.  Lee.  at  Richmond,  he  was  sent  to  Gen. 


HON.   GEORGE   DOUGLAS   WISE 

J.  E.  Johnston,  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  by  him  assigned  to  the 
First  Kentucky  Infantry,  with  which  he  served  in  the  Virginia 
Campaigns  the  following  year.  He  was  then  temporarily  at- 
tached to  the  command  of  Gen.  H.  A.  Wise,  on  the  James  River 
near  Drewry's  Blufif,  where  he  served  until  the  Seven  Days' 
battles.  The  remainder  of  his  military  career  was  in  the 
Western  Army,  upon  the  staff  of  Maj.-Gen.  Carter  L.  Stevenson, 
being  promoted  from  Lieutenant  to  Captain  and  finally  to 
Inspector-General  of  the  division.     He  participated  in  the  Vir- 


154  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

ginia  battles  of  Dranesville  and  Malvern  Hill ;  in  the  Vicksburg 
Campaign  took  part  in  the  fight  at  Baker's  Creek  and  all  the 
engagements  at  and  around  the  besieged  city,  and  bore  to  Gen- 
eral Johnston  the  last  dispatches  sent  out  by  General  Pemberton, 
leaving  Vicksburg  June  20,  1863.  After  this  he  joined  the 
army  besieging  Chattanooga,  and  served  in  the  subsequent  en- 
gagements of  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary  Ridge,  Dalton, 
Crow  Valley,  and  Resaca.  At  the  last  severe  action  he  fell  with 
a  gunshot  wound  that  disabled  him  for  about  three  months. 
Upon  his  recovery  he  found  the  Army  under  Hood,  entering 
upon  the  Tennessee  Campaign,  and  in  this  he  participated, 
fighting  at  Columbia,  Franklin,  Nashville,  and  in  all  the  actions 
on  the  retreat  to  Columbia,  Tenn.  At  the  last  he  rendered 
efiicient  service  with  the  forces  gathered  under  General  John- 
ston, and  fought  at  Bentonsville,  N.  C,  March  19-21,  1865, 
afterward  joining  in  the  capitulation  at  Greensboro.  Then  re- 
turning to  Richmond  he  began  the  practice  of  law,  and  at  once 
rose  to  prominence  at  the  bar.  By  successive  reelections  he 
filled  the  ofiice  of  Commonwealth's  Attorney  from  1870  to 
1880.  Elected  to  Congress  from  the  Third  District  of  Virginia, 
in  1880,  he  was  returned  by  his  constituents  without  interruption 
until  1894.  During  this  service  he  held  membership  in  the  most 
important  committees,  such  as  those  on  naval  aftairs,  foreign 
affairs,  rivers  and  harbors,  military  affairs,  merchant  marine, 
and  fisheries,  and  in  the  forty-ninth  Congress  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  manufactures.  During  the  fifty-first  and  fifty- 
third  Congresses  he  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  interstate 
and  foreign  commerce." 

An  incident  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  sketch  is  one  which 
the  writer  is  fortunately  able  to  elaborate.  It  mentions  that 
Captain  Wise  carried  despatches  from  Johnston  to  Pemberton. 
General  Johnston  asked  General  Stevenson  to  recommend  an 
officer  who  would  ^■olunteer  to  make  his  way  through  the 
Federal  lines  to  the  beleaguered  city.  Captain  Wise  was  named 
as  an  officer  of  tact  and  one  without  fear.  He  passed  through  the 
Federal  lines  in  the  night,  but  was  compelled  to  conceal  himself 
in  a  negro  cabin.  At  first  it  seemed  certain  the  frightened  negro 
tenant  would  expose  him.  Upon  further  conversation  it  developed 
that  the  negro  had  formerly  belonged  to  Captain  Wise's  father 
in  Accomack  and  had  known  "Little  George"  as  a  child.     Bv 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         155 

his  aid  Captain  Wise  reached  the  city,  delivered  his  despatches, 
and  was  requested  to  return  to  General  Johnston  with  papers 
from  General  Pemberton.  This  he  also  successfully  accom- 
plished by  making  a  small  float  of  hides  on  which  he  drifted 
down  the  Mississippi  River,  through  the  Federal  gunboats,  land- 
ing far  below  the  city,  and  making  his  perilous  way  overland 
to  Johnston's  Army.  An  account  of  this  daring  exploit  ap- 
peared in  the  Confederate  Column  of  the  Richmond  Times- 
Dispatch  years  ago.  The  facts  were  well  known  in  the  Western 
Army. 

"Gen.  Peyton  Wise. 

"Col.  Peyton  Wise,  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  and  since  the  war  prominent  in  the  business 
and  public  affairs  of  Richmond,  was  born  in  Accomack  County, 
February  9,   1838.     ...     At  an  early  age  he  was  taken  by 

his  parents  to  Washington,  D.  C and  he  was  reared 

and  given  his  academic  education  at  the  national  capital.  In 
later  youth  he  went  to  Philadelphia  and  entered  as  a  law  student 
the  office  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the  bar 
of  that  city.  As  he  was  thus  engaged  in  preparation  for  a  life 
career  the  crisis  of  1861  arrived,  and,  true  and  loyal  to  his 
State,  he  promptly  returned  to  the  land  of  his  nativity  and  the 
home  of  his  kindred,  ready  to  undergo  any  sacrifice  for  its 
defense.  Going  into  Goochland  County,  which  he  had  never 
previously  visited,  his  ability  as  an  organizer  and  strength  as  a 
leader  were  soon  manifested  by  the  speedy  raising  of  a  com- 
pany, which  was  mustered  into  service  July  3,  1861,  as  Com- 
pany "H"  of  the  Forty-Sixth  Virginia  Regiment  of  Infantry, 
in  the  command  of  Brig.-Gen.  Henry  A.  Wise.  He  was  intro- 
duced to  the  activities  of  war  in  the  West  Virginia  Campaign 
under  the  general  command  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  his  regiment 
operating  in  the  Kanawha  region.  Hence  he  returned  to  Rich- 
mond to  participate  in  the  Battle  of  Seven  Pines  and  the  Seven 
Days'  battles  on  the  peninsula.  Subsequently  he  took  part  in 
the  Roanoke  Island  Campaign,  in  the  defense  of  Charleston 
under  Beauregard,  and  in  the  defense  of  the  Petersburg  lines 
during  the  siege  of  1864-65.  At  the  reorganization  of  the  army 
in  1862  he  was  promoted  major  of  the  Forty-Sixth  Regiment, 
and  in  1863  was  again  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant- 
colonel.     During  a  great  part  of  the  remainder  of  the  war  he 


156 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


was  in  command  of  his  regiment.  During  the  fighting  before 
Petershnrg  he  was  severely  wounded,  and  on  the  first  day  after 
his  return  to  duty,  in  October,  1864,  he  was  captured  by  the 
enemy.  Subsequently  he  was  held  as  a  prisoner  of  war  six 
weeks  at  Washington,  and  three  and  a  half  months  at  Fort 
Delaware.     He  was  then  paroled,  but,  never  being  exchanged, 


GEN.   PEYTON   WISE 


was  not  able  to  render  any  further  service  to  the  Confederate 
cause.  At  the  time  of  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army  he  was 
at  Greensboro,  and  he  thence  returned  to  Richmond,  where  he 
made  his  home  ever  afterward.  Being  compelled  by  stress  of 
circumstances  to  abandon  his  cherished  career  in  the  legal  pro- 
fession, he  at  once  embarked  in  the  mercantile  business,  and 
presently  became  one  of  the  most  prominent  merchants  of  the 
city,  at  the  same  time  being  active  in  public  affairs  for  the  best 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         157 

interest  of  the  municipality  and  the  commonwealth.  In  1888 
he  retired  from  business  life,  and  since  then  his  activities  have 
been  all  in  public  affairs.  He  was  known  as  Gen.  Peyton  W^ise 
through  his  connection  with  the  State  military  organization, 
being  appointed,  in  1870,  by  Gov.  G.  C.  Walker,  as  ranking 
major-general  of  the  State  ^Militia.  [Later  Adjutant-General  of 
Virginia.  Shortly  after  the  war  he  was  captain  of  the  famous 
Richmond  Light  Infantry  Blues.]  He  also  held  the  rank  of 
general  in  the  United  Confederate  Veterans'  Association,  as  a 
member  of  the  staff  of  General  Gordon.  His  membership  was 
in  R.  E.  Lee  Camps,  No.  1,  of  Richmond.  As  chairman  of  the 
local  committee  of  arrangements  for  the  Confederate  Veterans' 
Reunion  at  Richmond,  in  1896,  he  contributed  largely  to  the 
success  of  that  important  assembly. 

"He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Jefferson  Davis  monu- 
ment association.  On  several  memorable  occasions  he  demon- 
strated remarkable  ability  as  an  eloquent  and  forceful  public 
speaker.  .  .  .  On  Alarch  29,  1897,  though  General  Wise 
had  not  yet  reached  the  age  of  sixty  years,  his  life  of  generous 
activitv  and  chivalrous  honor  was  cut  short  bv  death." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

John  Cropper  Wise  of  the  Sixth  Generation,  and 
His  Descendants. 


Son  of  Maj.  John  Wise  V.  and  Sarah 
CoRBiN  Cropper. 


John  Cropper  Wise,  the  second  son  of  Maj.  John  Wise  V. 
by  his  second  wife,  was  born  at  "Chfton,"  December  26,  1808, 
and  died  October  25,  1866.  He  and  his  brother  Henry  were 
raised  by  their  Aunt  "Betsy"   (Elizabeth  Wise). 

These  two  boys  first  attended  Margaret  Academy,  and  in  1824 
entered  Washington  College,  Washington,  Pa.,  where  they  were 
induced  to  go  by  a  friend.  John  Cropper  Wise  married  Anne 
Finney.  She  was  born  April  13,  1813,  at  "Meadeville,"  near 
Onancock,  the  home  of  her  father,  the  distinguished  Col.  John 
Finney  of  Accomack,  and  died  at  "Bolton/'  Norfolk  County, 
Virginia,  January  13.  1882.  Her  mother  was  Margaret  Bow- 
man, a  cousin  of  her  husl^and's  father. 

Shortly  after  his  marriage,  John  Cropper  Wise  removed  to 
"Wesley,"  near  Onancock.  In  1850  he  settled  on  the  Western 
Shore  and  purchased  an  estate  in  Princess  Anne  County,  known 
as  "Rolleston."  This  property  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
Moseley  family  in  1850  for  the  first  time.  It  was  granted  to 
the  original  patentee  by  Charles  II..  and  derived  its  name  from 
the  home  of  the  Moseleys  in  Staffordshire.  John  Cropper  Wise 
lived  with  his  family  at  "Rolleston"  until  his  brother,  Henry, 
retired  as  Governor  of  Virginia,  when  he  sold  the  farm  to  him. 
He  then  lived  in  Norfolk,  but  during  the  war  refugeed  with  his 
children  on  a  small  property  on  the  "Rolleston"  estate,  known 
as  "Rivershade,"  where  he  died  after  sixteen  years  of  ill  health 
and  extreme  suffering  with  articular  rheumatism. 

He  was  a  man  of  very  strong  character  and  recognized  ability, 
but  was  much  hampered  from  1850  on  by  the  terrible  disease 
which  caused  his  death.  He  did  not  enter  politics,  but  devoted 
himself  to  farming  and  business  exclusively,  in  which  he  pros- 
pered until  he  became  invalided. 

During  the  administration  of  Governor  Smith,  Chesapeake 
Bay  was  infested  with  oyster  pirates,  who  operated  in  large 
and  fleet  armed  schooners.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  a 
committee  of  citizens  of  the  Eastern  Shore,  John  Cropper  Wise 
was  given  the  rank  of  major  and  assigned  by  Governor  Smith 
to  the  dangerous  task  of  policing  the  bay,   for  which  difficult 


11 


162 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


work  he  was  provided  with  a  vessel  armed  with  two  howitzers. 
His  task  was  energetically  and  thoroughly  performed. 


MAJOR  JOHN   CROPPER  WISE 

His  wife,  Anne  Finney,  bore  him  eight  children,  as  follows: 

1.  Margaret  Douglas  Pettitt  Wise,  who  was  born  October 
8,  1836,  at  "Wesley,"  Accomack  County,  and  died 
November  15,  1867.  She  married  Allen  Walton  W^illett. 
Esq.,  of  "Pembroke,"  Princess  Anne  County.  Virginia, 
who  was  born  in  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  October 
29,  1820,  and  died  in  Norfolk,  Va.,  July  12.  1897. 
They  had  one  son,  Walton  Wise  Willett,  now  resident  in 
Savannah,  Ga.,  who  was  born  in  Princess  Anne  County. 
November  6.  1867. 

2.  Sarah  Cropper  Wise,  who  was  born  at  "Wesley"  in 
1838,    and    died    in    1915.      She    married    Col.    George 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         163 

Rogers,  of  Lynhaven,  who  moved  to  Norfolk  after  the 
war  and  became  superintendent  of  the  Norfolk  & 
Western  Railroad.  He  was  a  kinsman  of  Col.  George 
Rogers  Clarke — *'The  Hannibal  of  the  West."  They 
had  issue  a  son,  John  Wise  Rogers,  deceased. 

3.  Capt.  Henry  Alexander  W^ise,  who  was  born  at  "Fort 
George,  May  18,  1840,  and  now  resides  in  Norfolk,  Va. 
(See  sketch  hereafter.) 

4.  William  Bowman  Wise,  who  was  born  at  "Wesley," 
July  10,  1842,  and  died- unmarried  at  "Bolton,"  Norfolk 
County,  Virginia,  November  4,  1907.  He  was  educated 
at  the  Norfolk  Military  Academy  and  served  in  the 
Confederate  Army. 

5.  Louis  Curraye  Hammersley  Finney  Wise,  who  was 
born  at  "Wesley,"  Accomack  County,  July  23,  1844, 
and  died  in  Abilene,  Texas,  August  7,  1911.  He  was 
educated  at  the  Norfolk  Military  Academy  and  the  Vir- 
ginia Military  Institute ;  graduated  from  the  latter  in 
1865,  after  having. served  with  the  Corps  of  Cadets  in 
the  Battle  of  New^  Market,  in  which  he  was  wounded, 
as  a  cadet  noncommissioned  officer.  After  the  w'ar  his 
aunt,  Mrs.  Hammersley,  of  New  York,  enabled  him  to 
go  to  Mexico,  where  he  was  engaged  as  an  engineer  in 
the  survey  of  Maximilian's  railroad  between  Mexico 
City  and  Vera  Cruz.  In  1866  he  went  to  Texas  and 
taught  school  at  Hill's  Prairie  (Bastrop  County)  for 
five  years.  He  was  then  employed  as  compiling  drafts- 
man in  the  General  Land  Office  at  Austin,  Texas.  After 
several  years  he  joined  a  surveying  party  in  the  Pan- 
handle section  of  the  state.  He  then  entered  the  real- 
estate  business  in  Abilene,  soon  returning  to  Austin, 
where  for  eight  years  he  was  chief  draftsman  in  the 
General  Land  Office.  Again  he  removed  to  Abilene 
and  entered  the  real-estate  business  in  which  he  con- 
tinued until  his  death.  In  the  building  of  Abilene  he 
was  a  leading  factor,  and  was  one  of  the  leading  citizens 
of  that  city.  In  December,  1871,  he  married  Mary 
Winnifred  Wright,  daughter  of  Dr.  James  P.  Wright, 


164  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

of  Princess  Anne  Conntv,  Virginia.  She  was  born  in 
Norfolk,  Va.,  June  9,  1850,  and  died  January  9,  1873. 
The  issue  of  this  union  was  one  daughter,  Mary  Mon- 
cure  Wise,  born  January  3,  1873,  at  Hill's  Prairie, 
Texas,  and  died  June  27,  1873.  In  1876  he  married 
Janette  Hannah  Porter,  who  was  born  in  Selma,  Ala., 
April  13,  1857,  and  died  January  13,  1877.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Rev.  Abner  Porter,  of  South  Carolina, 
and  bore  him  one  son,  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  born  in 
Austin,  Texas,  January  4,  1877,  and  died  unmarried 
^lay  2,  1904.  December  12,  1882,  he  married  Barbara 
Cornish  Scott,  daughter  of  James  Hugh  Scott  and  Alary 
Fergusson  Alorrissett,  of  Princess  Anne  County,  \^ir- 
ginia.  Barbara  Scott  was  born  July  2,  1860.  and  is 
now  living  with  her  sons  in  Abilene,  Texas.  The  issue 
of  this  marriage  is :  John  Cropper  Wise,  born  April 
27 ,  1884,  and  Louis  Scott  Wise,  born  August  16,  1887. 
The  former  is  engaged  in  the  real-estate  business :  the 
latter  is  a  lawyer. 

6.  Anne  Finney  Wise,  who  was  born  at  "Wesley,"  Acco- 
mack County,  in  1846,  and  married  Burr  S.  Craft,  Escp, 
of  New  York.  She  now  resides  in  Norfolk,  Va.  No 
issue. 

7.  Dr.  John  Cropper  Wise,  who  was  born  October  7,  1848, 
at  "Wesley,"  Accomack  County.  He  w^as  educated  at 
the  University  of  Virginia  and  Washington  University, 
of  Baltimore.  Graduating  in  medicine  in  1869,  he  was 
appointed  Adjunct  Professor  Chair  of  Medical  Juris- 
prudence, Washington  University,  and,  April  28,  1870, 
was  commissioned  Assistant  Surgeon  U.  S.  Navy. 
Promoted  successively  through  the  grades  of  Surgeon, 
Medical  Inspector,  and  Medical  Director,  he  ser\'ed  in 
the  W^est  India,  Home,  Pacific,  and  China  Squadrons. 
During  the  Russo-Turkish  War  of  1877-8,  he  was  de- 
tailed as  an  observer  and  physician  to  the  Embassy  in 
Constantinople.  In  1897  he  w^as  Fleet  Surgeon  of  the 
Pacific  Squadron,  and  served  in  1898  on  the  Baltimore 
in  the  Battle  of  Manila  Bay,  and  later  in  the  Philippine 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


165 


a   medal    from    Congress    for   his 


campaigns,  receivmg 
services  with  Dewey's  fleet.  In  1906  he  represented  the 
U.  S.  Government  at  the  International  Medical  Congress 
at  Lisbon,  and  in  1907  was  the  American  Delegate  to 
the  Ninth  International  Red  Cross  Congress  at  London. 
He  also  represented  the  United  States  at  the  important 


COMMODORE  JOHN   CROPPER  WISE,   U.   S.   Navy 


medical  congresses  in  Bergen,  Stockholm,  and  Bnda 
Pesth,  in  1909.  After  forty  years  of  distinguished 
service  he  was  retired  in  1910,  as  Medical-Director,  with 
the  rank  of  Commodore.  He  has  been  a  prolific  writer 
on  Military  Medicine,  and  his  professional  papers  have 
been  frecjuently  reproduced  in  contemporary  foreign 
literature.  May  8,  1879.  he  married  Agnes  Taylor 
Brooke,  daughter  of  John  Lewis  Brooke  of  "Fox  Neck," 


166  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Cnlpeper  County,  Virginia,  and  Maria  Louisa  Ashby. 
John  Lewis  Brooke  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Matthew  Whiting 
Brooke  (M.  D.,  Edinburg)  and  Mary  Lewis,  daughter 
of  John  Lewis  of  "Warner  Hall,"  Gloucester  County, 
Virginia.  Since  his  retirement  Dr.  Wise  has  resided  at 
Warrenton,  Va.,  and  in  Washington,  D.  C.     His  issue  is: 

1.  John  Douglas  Wise,  born  in  Philadelphia,  March  22, 
1880.  He  was  educated  at  Pantops  Academy  and 
the  Virginia  Military  Institute.  In  1907  he  was  ap- 
pointed Consul  to  Bordeaux,  France,  and  married 
there,  July  9,  1911,  Leonie  Marie  Louise  de  La 
Mothe,  the  daughter  of  Rene,  Vicomte  de  La  Mothe, 
who  died  in  1912,  and  Marie  Louise  Prieur.  The 
issue  of  this  union  is  one  daughter,  Colette  Jacqueline 
Marie  Louise  Agnes  Wise,  born  in  Bordeaux, 
January  21,   1914. 

2.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  U.  S.  Navy,  who  was  born 
in  Warrenton,  Va.,  September  29,  1881  ;  attended 
Pantops  Academy  and  the  University  of  Virginia; 
entered  the  Navy  as  Assistant  Paymaster,  with  the 
rank  of  ensign,  in  October,  1902,  and  was  promoted 
Paymaster,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-commander, 
July  1,  1913.     He  is  unmarried. 

3.  Agnes  Ashby  Wise,  born  November  29,  1883,  and 
died  March  25,  1902;    unmarried. 

8.  Heber  Hamilton  Wise,  born  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  February 
20,  1859,  and  died  August  6,  1911;  unmarried.  He 
was  also  educated  at  the  Norfolk  Military  Academy,  and 
resided  throughout  his  life  near  Norfolk. 

The  military  service  of  the  sons  of  John  Cropper  Wise  ap- 
pears elsewhere.     (See  Chapter  XIV,  p.  171.) 

From  the  foregoing  list  it  is  seen  that  Maj.  John  Cropper 
Wise  had  five  sons  in  1861,  and  that  the  three  of  military  age 
served  in  the  Confederate  States  Army.  William  Bowman  Wise 
and  Louis  C.  H.  F.  Wise  being  wounded.  The  military  service 
of  Capt.   Henry   Alexander  ^^Mse  being  the  most  distinguished 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


167 


of  the  three,  the  following  accurate  sketch  of  his  career  from 
the  "Confederate  Alilitary  History,"  \'ol.  HI.,  p.  1279,  is 
appended : 

"Capt.  Henry  Alexander  Wise. 

"Henry  Alexander  Wise,  superintendent  of  the  public  schools 
of  Baltimore,  is  a  Virginian  by  birth  and  rearing,  and  during 


CAPT.    HENRY    ALEXANDER   WISE,    C.    S.    A. 

Supt.    Public  Schools  of  Baltimore 

the  war  served  with  the  forces  in  the  field,  as  well  as  in  other 
capacities,  though  not  yet  in  years  having  attained  his  majority 
at  the  close  of  the  struggle.  He  was  born  in  Accomack  County, 
Virginia,  May  18,  1840,  and  passed  the  years  of  childhood  in 
Princess  Anne  County,  and  at  Norfolk,  where  he  attended  the 
Norfolk  Academy.  Thence  he  entered  the  Virginia  Military 
Institute,  at  Lexington,  and  was  there  a  student  when  the  war 
became   imminent.      In    April,    1861,    he    went   with   the   other 


168  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

cadets  to  Richmond  to  report  for  duty  in  the  service  of  the 
State,  and  was  assigned  to  the  work  of  drilhng  volunteers,  an 
occupation  which  he  continued  subsequently  at  Ashland  and  in 
Western  \^irginia. 

"He  was  commissioned  in  May,  1861,  as  first  lieutenant  and 
adjutant  of  the  Forty-Sixth  Virginia  Regiment  of  infantry,  and 
served  with  the  command  in  the  early  operations  in  West  Virginia, 
where  he  participated  in  several  skirmishes.  In  February,  1862. 
he  participated  in  the  defense  of  Roanoke  Island,  and  was  cap- 
tured with  a  large  numlier  of  troops,  and  held  there  two  or  three 
weeks,  after  which  he  was  paroled.  He  then  proceeded  to  the 
\^irginia  Military  Institute  and  was  appointed  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor of  Mathematics,  Latin,  and  Tactics,  serving  as  such  dur- 
ing the  major  part  of  the  war  period.  At  one  time  he  was 
appointed  adjutant  of  a  battalion  of  scouts  and  guides  under 
■command  of  Col.  John  H.  Richardson,  and  attached  to  the  head- 
quarters of  Gen.  R.  E.  Lee,  but  in  this  capacity  never  served, 
remaining  at  the  Institute.  In  the  spring  of  1864,  when  General 
Breckinridge  collected  a  body  of  men  to  reinforce  General 
Imboden  in  the  Valley  of  \"irginia,  he  called  out  the  full  Corps 
of  Cadets  at  Lexington,  to  the  number  of  over  two  hundred 
[270],  who  marched  under  tlie  command  of  Col.  Scott  Shipp, 
Commandant,  to  the  battlefield  of  Xew  Market.  Here  Pro- 
fessor \\'ise  commanded  Company  'A,"  with  the  rank  of  captain. 
V.  M.  I.  Cadets,  and  when  Colonel  Shipp  was  wounded  took 
command.  For  several  hours  they  successfully  engaged,  with 
their  support,  the  troops  of  General  Sigel.  and  finally  made  a 
gallant  charge  [led  by  Captain  ^^^ise  in  person]  against  a  battery 
of  six  guns.  .  .  .  Captain  Wise  escaped  unhurt,  though 
eight  or  ten  bullets  pierced  his  clothing.  About  a  month  before 
the  fall  of  Richmond  he  reported  for  duty  with  the  battery  of 
Capt.  John  Donnell  Smith,  in  which  he  had  received  a  com- 
mission as  lieutenant,  and  in  that  capacity  he  took  part  in  the 
subsequent  engagements  of  the  battery,  serving  on  the  lines 
near  Hewlett  House  and  at  Sailor's  Creek,  and  l^eing  i)resent 
at  Appomattox  Courthouse,  where  he  was  surrendered  with 
General  Lee's  Army.  After  this  event  he  repaired  to  Princess 
Anne  Countv,  Virginia,  and  found  employment  on  a  farm  for 
two  or  three  months,  afterward  teaching  school  for  a  year. 
Deciding  to  make  bis  career  in  this  profession  he  went  to  Xor- 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         169 

folk  and  was  three  years  an  instructor  in  the  academy  there. 
In  1870  he  removed  to  Baltimore  and  became  principal  of 
Male  Grammar  School  No.  4.  and  after  six  years'  service  was 
appointed  assistant  superintendent  of  the  public  schools  of  the 
city.  In  1883  he  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  superin- 
tendent." 


The  conduct  of  Capt.  Henry  A.  Wise — "Old  Canook."  as  he 
was  called  by  the  cadets — at  New  Market  was  heroic.  Rarely 
has  a  man  of  his  youthful  years  (in  1864)  been  called  upon  to 
exercise  a  higher  degree  of  initiative  or  to  shoulder  a  heavier 
responsibility  than  fell  to  him  on  the  memorable  day  of  May 
15.  1864.  Many  authorities  record  how,  when  the  gallant  and 
sturdy  Colonel  Shipp  had  fallen,  when  the  battalion  of  cadets 
was  being  decimated,  and  when  even  the  veteran  Confederate 
troops  on  either  flank  of  the  cadets  were  thrown  into  confusion, 
this  tall,  dignified,  stolid  boy-professor,  noted  among  his  fellow 
officers  for  extreme  reticence  which  verged  upon  manly  bash- 
fulness,  rose  from  the  ground,  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  cadet  battalion,  and  ordered  the  charge  of  that  youthful 
command  upon  Von  Kleiser's  flaming  guns,  two  hundred  yards 
away.  Hesitation  at  such  a  crisis  in  the  conflict  had  proved 
fatal  to  Breckinridge's  fortunes.  Fortunate  it  was  that  such 
an  one  as  Captain  Wise  succeeded  the  sturd}-  Shipp  whom  a 
cruel  fate  denied  participation  in  the  spectacular  stage  of  the 
battle — that  final  charge  which  was  the  culmination  of  vears 
of  training  at  his  hands,  and  which  was  in  fact  no  more  gallant 
than  the  slow,  irresistible  advance  of  the  cadets  up  to  their 
final  position  under  his  leadership. 

Captain  Wise's  whole  career  has  been  characterized  by  the 
same  sturdy  uprightness  and  courage  that  distinguished  his 
youth.  A  man  of  splendid  character  and  intellect,  above  all  he 
has  been  noted  for  a  modesty  that  has  never  been  relaxed.  The 
constant  praise  that  has  fallen  to  him  for  his  part  at  New 
Market  has  increased,  rather  than  lessened,  that  modestv,  and 
it  is  not  too  much  to  sav  it  has  1)een  the  source  of  the  keenest 


170  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

embarrassment  and  suffering  to  this  unusual  man.     One  must 
read  the  following  works  to  appreciate  his  true  quality : 

"History  of  the  \Mrginia  Military  Institute,"  Smith. 

"The  New  Market  Campaign/'  Turner. 

"Brave  Deeds  of  Confederate  Soldiers,"   Bruce. 

"Military  History   of  the  Virginia  Alilitary   Institute,    1839- 
65,"  J.  C.  Wise. 

"End  of  An  Era,"  J.  S.  Wise. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
Henry  Alexander  Wise  of  the  Sixth  Generation. 


Son  of  Major  John  Wise  V.  and 
Sarah  Corbin  Cropper. 


We  now  return  to  the  eldest  son  of  Maj.  John  Wise  V.  and 
Sarah  Corbin  Cropper,  who  was  Gov.  Henry  Alexander  Wise, 
the  eldest  to  reach  maturity.  He  was  the  fifth  child  born  to  his 
parents.  Born  at  Drummondtown  (Accomack  C.  H.),  Va.,  in 
the  house  which  is  now  the  village  tavern,  on  December  3,  1806, 
he  was  named  after  Judge  James  Henry,  the  father  of  his 
father's  first  wife,  and  Alexander  Fullerton,  of  Philadelphia, 
the  husband  of  his  mother's  schoolmistress.  Had  he  been  named 
John  he  would  have  been  the  sixth  of  the  name  in  Virginia,  in 
direct  line.  He  and  his  brother  became  orphans  by  the  death 
of  his  father  in  1812,  and  of  his  mother  in  1813.  They  were 
committed  to  the  care  of  their  aunts,  Elizabeth  Wise  and  Maiy 
Wise  Outten,  the  latter  a  widow,  who  had  lost  her  only  child. 
John  Wise  Outten.  His  guardian  was  John  Custis,  his  uncle 
bv  marriage,  who  was  the  husband  of  Tabitha  Gillett,  his  grand- 
mother's daughter  by  her  marriage  to  Ayres  Gillett. 

As  the  writer  has  said  in  the  preface,  it  is  not  designed  here 
to  write  the  life  of  those  whose  records  have  been  elsewhere 
adequately  preserved.  So  much  has  been  written  of  Henry  A. 
Wise,  of  Virginia,  that  only  the  barest  record  of  him  will  be 
given  here,  and  the  excellent  sketch  of  him,  written  by  Dr. 
Edward  S.  Joynes,  of  Accomack,  and  Professor  of  Modern 
Languages,  University  of  South  Carolina,  for  the  Library  of 
Southern  Literature,  is  included  as  being  the  most  accurate  one 
known  to  exist  in  such  brief  compass : 

"In  a  library  of  Southern  literature  but  little  space  is  allowed 
for  personal  biography.  This  is,  however,  the  less  to  be 
regretted  in  the  case  of  a  man  so  well  and  widely  known  as 
was  Gov.  Henry  A.  Wise,  of  Virginia.  His  life  is  written, 
large  and  broad,  in  the  public  history  of  Virginia  and  of  the 
country  for  a  period  of  forty  years. 

"Henrv  A.  Wise  was  born  in  Accomack  County,  Virginia, 
December  3,  1806.  of  mixed  English  and  Scotch  ancestry,  al- 
ready distinguished  for  talents  and  patriotism.  Early  left  an 
orphan,  and  in  delicate  health,  he  grew  up  in  the  hardy  habits 
of  a  free  country  life.     At  twelve  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to 


174  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Margaret  Academy,  in  Accomack  County,  an  old-fashioned 
classical  school,  and  here  he  was  trained  in  the  rigid  curriculum 
of  that  day,  for  which,  during  all  his  life,  he  retained  the  deepest 
admiration  and  reverence  (see  his  tribute  to  the  'Humanities' 
in  'Seven  Decades').  In  1822  he  went  to  Washington  College, 
Pennsylvania,  and  became  the  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Dr. 
/\ndrew  Wylie,  then  president  of  the  college  and  teacher  of 
moral  science.  After  graduating  with  honors,  and  especially 
with  oratorical  distinction,  he  went  to  the  law  school  of  Judge 
Henry  St.  George  Tucker,  at  Winchester,  Va.  For  these  two 
preceptors,  Dr.  Wylie  and  Judge  Tucker,  Mr.  Wise  always 
retained  the  most  affectionate  reverence.  At  Washington  Col- 
lege he  also  fell  in  love  with  the  lady  who  was  to  be  his  first 
wife.  Miss  Ann  Jennings,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Obidiah 
Jennings,  Presbyterian  minister  of  that  town,  and  this  early 
attachment  had  a  deep  influence  upon  his  college  life.  At  Wash- 
ington College,  also,  he  first  saw  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  and  was 
fired  with  the  first  enthusiasm  of  youthful  hero  worship. 

"Returning"  from  the  law  school,  he  began  practice  in  Acco- 
mack with  success.  But  soon  the  'lure  of  love'  tempted  his 
ardent  heart,  and  in  1828  he  removed  to  Nashville,  Tenn.,  where 
Dr.  Jennings  was  now  living,  and  was  there  married,  October, 
1828,  to  Miss  Ann  Jennings.  The  honeymoon  was  spent  at  the 
Hermitage,  of  which  a  charming  description  is  preserved  in  the 
'Seven  Decades  of  the  Union.'  But  the  call  of  home  proved  too 
strong,  and  in  1830  he  returned  to  Accomack  and  resumed  the 
practice  of  law. 

"In  1833  he  was  elected  to  Congress  as  a  Jackson  Democrat, 
opposed  to  nullification.  The  leading  men  of  the  district,  almost 
without  exception,  were  'Nullifiers,'  and  the  success  of  this  un- 
known young  candidate  was.  under  the  circumstances,  a  remark- 
able personal  triumph. 

"From  this  time  the  life  of  Mr.  Wise  belongs  to  the  public 
history  of  the  country,  and  can  not  be  recorded  here.  His  career 
in  Congress,  from  1833  to  1843.  was  brilliant  and  influential, 
and  his  reputation  as  an  orator  and  debater  made  him  one  of  the 
most  prominent  figures  in  public  life.  He  was  especially  dis- 
tinguished as  the  chief  antagonist  of  the  'Old  Man  Eloquent.' 
John  Ouincy  Adams,  in  defence  of  Southern  rights.  Separated 
from  President  lackson  on  the  bank  question,  he  became  a  leader 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         175 

in  the  opposition  throughout  the  administration  of  Van  Buren. 
In  the  great  canvass  of  1840  for  'Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too,'  he 
was  a  Whig  elector. 

''His  services  were  sought  all  over  the  country,  and,  along 
with  his  illustrious  friend,  Sargent  S.  Prentiss,  of  Mississippi, 
he  made  a  memorable  canvass.     He  was  the  author  of  the  senti- 


GOV.   HENRY  ALEXANDER   WISE 

ment,  'The  union  of  the  Whigs  for  the  sake  of  the  Union,'  which 
became  the  rallying  cry  of  the  party.  After  the  death  of  Presi- 
dent Harrison,  he  was  President  Tyler's  closest  friend  and 
adviser,  and  was  the  leader  of  that  famous  'Corporal's  Guard' 
in  Congress,  which,  though  small  in  numbers,  was  so  distin- 
guished and  so  influential  in  the  public  policy  of  that  excited 
time. 

"Mr.  Wise's  first  wife  died  in   1837,  leaving  four  children. 
In  November,  1840,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Sergeant,  of 


176  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Philadelphia,  daughter  of  the  distinguished  JdIih  Sergeant.  In 
1844  he  was  appointed  Minister  to  Brazil,  where  he  remained 
for  three  years.  In  this  service  he  distinguished  himself  hy 
strenuous  opposition  to  the  African  slave  trade.  His  parting 
letter  to  his  constituents,  on  resigning  his  seat  in  Congress,  was 
an  earnest  appeal  in  behalf  of  free  schools.  This  was  also  the 
subject  of  one  of  his  earliest  public  addresses  after  his  return. 
On  this  subject  Mr.  Wise  was  far  in  advance  of  the  pul)lic  senti- 
ment of  that  day,  in  his  district  or  in  the  State. 

"Returning  from  Brazil  in  1847,  Mr.  Wise  resumed  the 
practice  of  law  in  Accomack,  but  was  soon  again  called  into 
public  life  as  a  candidate  for  the  Virginia  Convention  of  1850. 
Here  he  won  a  signal  triumph.  Though  differing  with  his  con- 
stituents on  the  question  of  the  basis  of  taxation  and  suffrage — 
the  chief  question  at  issue — he  was  elected  over  the  strongest 
opposition.  In  this  Convention,  which  included  the  most  illus- 
trious men  of  Virginia  of  that  day,  he  was  easily  the  most  promi- 
nent figure,  and  he  was  successful  in  securing  most  of  the  great 
objects  for  which  he  contended.  The  result  of  his  work  was 
his  nomination  as  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor  in  1855. 

'T  will  here  add  an  interesting  incident,  illustrative  of  those 
days.  My  father,  Thomas  R.  Joynes,  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
Convention  of  1829-30,  had  been  a  prominent  advocate  of 
policies  opposed  to  those  which  Mr.  Wise  advocated  in  this 
canvass,  and  felt  constrained  therefore  to  vote  against  him.  In 
those  days  it  was  customary  for  candidates  to  sit  on  the  judge's 
bench  at  the  courthouse,  and  personally  to  thank  each  voter.  As 
my  father  cast  his  opposing  vote  (viva  voce,  as  was  then 
customary  in  Virginia)  he  looked  up  at  Mr.  Wise  and  said, 
with  feeling,  Tt  is  the  greatest  regret  of  my  life.'  Mr.  Wise 
rose,  stepped  forward,  and  said  with  responsive  emotion,  'That 
regret  is  the  greatest  honor  of  my  life.'  I  was  myself  a  witness 
of  this  incident.  The  two  men  were  lifelong  friends — my  father 
much  older  than  Mr.  Wise. 

"Here  we  come  to  the  most  brilliant  portion  of  Mr.  Wise's 
brilliant  career.  His  canvass  of  Virginia  against  Know  Nothing- 
ism  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  the  history  of  forensic 
politics.  With  a  courage  and  endurance  unsurpassed,  with  an 
eloquence  indescribable  in  power  and  effect,  he  swept  the  State 
from  the  ocean  to  the  Ohio,  and  stayed  the  rising  tide  of  a 
political   movement   which   had    seemed   destined   to    sweep   the 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         177 

country.  The  'Black  Knight'  was  slain.  This  canvass  is  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  episodes  in  the  history  of  Virginia,  and  its 
result  one  of  the  most  memorable  of  the  triumphs  of  personality, 
of  conviction,  and  of  eloquence  in  public  affairs. 

"We  have  no  space — nor  is  there  need — to  recount  the  ad- 
ministration of  Mr.  Wise  as  Governor.  It  was  a  critical  time. 
Governor  Wise  was  found  equal  to  every  occasion.  In  the  ex- 
citing affair  of  the  John  Brown  raid  his  conduct  won  not  only 
the  approval  of  Virginia,  but  the  admiration  of  the  country.  He 
saw  the  coming  shadow  of  war.  He  strove  for  peace  and  union, 
yet  earnestly  urged  preparation  for  the  worst. 

'The  second  Mrs.  Wise  had  died  in  1850.  In  1853  Mr.  Wise 
was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Lyons,  of  Richmond,  who  survived 
him.  His  life  was  richly  blessed,  and  deeply  influenced,  by  the 
love  of  three  noble  women. 

"On  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  Governor  he  removed  to 
Princess  Anne  County,  where  he  bought  a  home.  But  crowd- 
ing events  left  him  little  time  for  retirement.  He  had  refused 
to  allow  himself  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  before  the 
Cliarleston  Convention,  and  had  vainly  urged  Democratic  union ; 
and  now,  on  the  election  of  Lincoln,  he  foresaw  the  coming- 
struggle.  He  was,  however,  opposed  to  secession,  but  in  favor 
of  'fighting  in  the  Union.'  He  wrote:  'Revolution  is  the  word. 
Secession  is  revolution,  but  revolution  is  not  secession.  I  will 
not  nullify,  I  will  not  secede;  but  I  will,  under  sovereign  State 
authority,  fight  in  the  Union  another  revolutionary  conflict  for 
civil  liberty,  and  for  a  Union  which  will  defend  it.'  As  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Virginia  Convention,  he  urged  the  doctrine  in  vain; 
but  finally  yielded,  and  voted  with  the  majority  for  secession, 
after  President  Lincoln's  proclamation  calling  for  troops.  What 
might  have  been  the  result  of  Mr.  Wise's  policy,  if  adopted,  it  is 
now  too  late,  and,  alas !  useless  to  speculate ;  but  he  died  in  the 
belief  that  thus  the  Union  might  have  been  saved,  and  the  rights 
of  the  South  secured. 

"Although  beyond  military  age,  and  without  military  training, 
Mr.  Wise  promptly  offered  his  services,  and  was  appointed 
Brigadier-General.  Of  his  military  career  in  West  Virginia,  on 
Roanoke  Island  (where  his  gifted  son,  O.  Jennings  Wise,  was 
killed),  at  Charleston,  at  Drewry's  Bluff,  before  Petersburg,  and 
to  Appomattox,  it  is  needless  here  to  speak.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  the  same  power  he  had  always  shown  in  attracting  the  love 


12 


178  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

and  loyalty  of  men  in  public  life  was  manifested  in  the  personal 
devotion  to  him  of  his  officers  and  his  soldiers;  that  he  met 
every  fortune,  of  defeat  or  of  success,  with  lofty  mind  ;  and 
that  he  surrendered  with  Lee  at  Appomattox,  at  the  head  of  the 
remnant  of  his  devoted  men.  On  the  day  before  the  surrender 
General  Lee  promoted  him  to  Major-General  for  special 
gallantry ;    and,  in  his  official  report,  Gen.  Fitzhugh  Lee  wrote : 

"  'The  past  services  of  Gen.  Henry  A.  Wise,  his  ante- 
cedents in  civil  life,  and  his  age  caused  his  bearing  upon 
this  most  trying  retreat  to  shine  conspicuously  forth. 

"  'His  unconquerable  spirit  was  filled  with  as  much 
earnestness  and  zeal  in  April,  1865,  as  when  he  first  took 
up  arms,  four  years  ago;  and  the  freedom  with  which 
he  exposed  a  long  life,  laden  with  honors,  proves  he  was 
willing  to  sacrifice  it,  if  it  would  conduce  toward  attaining 
the  liberty  of  his  country.' 

''The  war  left  General  Wise's  home  in  alien  hands.  He  now 
repaired  to  Richmond,  where  he  began  again  the  practice  of  law. 
He  refused  to  apply  for  pardon  or  to  take  oath  of  amnesty, 
but  stood  upon  his  parole  as  a  prisoner  of  war ;  yet,  strange  to 
say,  he  was  trusted,  and  often  consulted,  by  the  military  com- 
manders. In  Richmond,  for  several  years,  Mr.  Wise  enjoyed 
a  lucrative  practice  and  a  life  of  domestic  peace.  His  heart  was 
wrung  with  the  condition  of  his  people ;  yet  he  clearly  foresaw 
and  prophesied  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day,  and,  in  this  hope, 
he  was  cheerful  to  the  end.  He  died  on  the  12th  of  September, 
1876,  in  the  fullness  of  a  perfect  Christian  faith  and  hope.  'I 
am  passing,'  he  said  in  his  last  hour,  'through  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death.  1)ut  I  am  not  afraid,  for  there  is  one  with  me 
who  supports  me,  not  only  a  God,  but  a  God-man,  who  under- 
stood my  infirmities.'  His  death  called  for  the  tenderest  ex- 
pressions of  respect  and  love,  from  the  bar.  from  the  city,  and 
from  the  entire  State. 

"So  much  of  personal  biography  seemed  to  be  due  to  a  man 
so  distinguished  and  influential  as  was  Mr.  Wise.  But  when 
we  come  to  estimate  his  position  in  Southern  literature  a 
difficult  question  arises :  What  is  literature,  and  what  con- 
stitutes and  confers  literary  distinction? 

"Mr.  Wise  was  in  his  youth  well  educated  by  the  standards 
of  that  time.     All  his  life  he  was  a  student,  and  a  large  reader. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         179 

not  only  in  professional  and  political  texts,  but  in  the  best  Eng- 
lish classics,  especially  in  history  and  biography.  So  that  he 
was  well  equipped,  both  by  nature  and  by  study,  for  literary 
expression ;  yet  he  never  acquired  a  distinct  style.  He  cared 
little  for  literary  form,  though  his  own  literary  taste  was  most 
correct  and  exacting.  His  expression,  guided  by  temperament, 
rather  than  by  intellect,  varied  with  his  moods ;  and  his  moods 
were  oceanic  alike  in  power  and  variability.  Air.  Wise  was  a 
voluminous  writer,  especially  of  political  letters.  During  the 
period  of  his  political  prominence  (say  from  1840  to  1860) 
his  letters,  covering  almost  every  pending  subject,  were  often 
masterpieces  of  political  exposition;  yet  only  few  of  them  have 
been  preserved.  After  the  war  he  wrote  his  'Seven  Decades 
of  the  Union,'  commemorative  chiefly  of  his  friend.  President 
Tyler,  and  dedicated  to  the  College  of  \\'illiam  and  Mary.  This 
book,  which  the  writer  says  'is  not  altogether  a  biography,  and 
not  at  all  a.  history,'  and  which  he  describes  as  'a  task  of  tears, 
dashed  with  some  sacred  joy,'  was  intended  also,  in  part,  as  a 
vindication  of  humanistic  education  against  the  materialistic  and 
commercializing  tendencies  of  the  present  day.  While  deficient 
in  unity  and  historical  completeness,  it  is  as  interesting  as  any 
romance  and  presents  delightful  glimpses  of  Mr.  Wise's  varied 
style  and  of  his  own  personality.  It  is  full  of  charming  descrip- 
tions of  persons,  of  places,  and  of  events. 

''Yet  the  book  alone,  delightful  as  it  is,  with  all  its  faults, 
would  hardly  entitle  Air.  Wise  to  a  place  in  this  record  of 
Southern  literature.  Whence,  then,  is  his  claim?  Mr.  \Mse  was, 
supremely  and  gloriously,  an  orator.  Is  spoken  eloquence  litera- 
ture? Measured  by  its  duration,  it  certainly  is  not:  for  the 
strongest  memory  can  only  dimly  recall  its  immediate  form  or 
effect,  and  the  printed  page,  even  when  the  words  are  recorded, 
can  give  no  conception  of  the  entrancing  power  of  spoken 
eloquence  at  the  moment  of  utterance.  Yet,  if  measured  by 
power  and  effect,  surely  oratory  is  literature,  and,  in  its  highest 
forms,  belongs  to  the  highest  literature ;  for  no  mode  of  human 
expression  is  so  magical  in  its  potency.  Perhaps  it  is  part  of  the 
law  of  compensation  that  that  which  is  so  immediately  potential, 
like  the  mighty  flash  of  the  lightning,  should  be  transitory:  it 
would  be  too  dangerous  a  power  if  permanent. 

"I  can  not  undertake  to  convey  to  the  reader,  by  any  possible 
words,  any  just  conception  of  the  power  of  Mr.  \Vise's  oratory. 


180  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

For  this  power  he  was  supremely  gifted — a  tall,  slender,  sinewy 
person ;  a  head  of  classic  beauty ;  a  countenance  strong,  mobile, 
luminous — sympathetically  expressive  of  every  emotion  ;  an  eye 
that  flashed  with  fire  or  melted  with  tenderness;  a  large  and 
powerful  mouth,  and  strong  nose  and  chin;  a  form  and  face, 
in  a  word,  most  unusual  and  impressive;  and  a  voice — ah,  that 
voice!  no  words  of  mine  can  describe  its  power,  its  depth,  and 
tone,  its  sweetness  or  its  terror !  Mr.  Wise  was,  by  nature  and 
practice,  a  perfect  master  of  every  art  of  the  orator.  His 
mimicry  was  perfect;  his  denunciation  was  terrible;  his  power 
to  command  every  emotion  of  his  hearers  was  unrivaled.  No 
description  can  give  any  idea  of  this  wonderful  potency.  The 
simplest  words,  as  read  in  print,  often,  as  they  fell  from  his 
lips,  had  a  magical,  an  irresistible,  power. 

"It  was  my  privilege  to  have  known  Mr.  Wise  from  my  earliest 
childhood,  and  to  have  heard  him  at  many  periods  of  my  life. 
Mv  mature  reflection  confirms  my  earlier  judgment.  I  have 
heard  many  great  speakers,  on  great  occasions,  but  I  have  never 
heard  any  one  who  equaled  or  approached  the  marvelous  power 
of  Henry  A.  Wise.  And,  as  is  always  the  case,  it  was  the  man 
behind  the  word  that  gave  to  the  word  its  most  potent  energy ; 
it  was  the  sincerity,  the  earnestness,  the  passion  of  the  speaker, 
and  the  perfect  faith  of  the  audience  in  the  man,  that  made  his 
speech  so  entrancing,  so  irresistible.  Such  a  power  is  a  potent, 
a  perilous  gift:  no  man  ever  applied  it  to  nobler  uses  than  did 
Henry  A.  Wise. 

"Of  the  marvelous  oratorical  power  of  Mr.  Wise  testimonies 
might  be  quoted.  Governor  Cameron,  of  Virginia,  wrote :  'His 
gesture  was  eloquence  itself,  powerful  yet  restrained.  .  . 
His  voice  had  the  compass  of  an  organ  pipe,  and  ranged  from 
the  persuasive  softness  of  a  lute  to  the  metallic  ring  of  a 
trumpet.  Add  to  this  the  magnetism  which  defies  analysis,  which 
forces  men  to  listen,  and  then  compels  them  to  believe ;  a 
courage  as  uncalculating  as  that  of  a  sea-hawk;  a  sense  of 
conviction  as  absolute  as  ever  sustained  a  martyr  at  the  stake.' 

"James  Barron  Hope,  the  poet,  wrote :  'I  can  see  him  at  this 
moment,  as  he  held  me  there  with  his  hazel  eyes,  which  were 
now  those  of  a  prophet  or  a  seer;  I  can  hear  him  as  he  hekl  me 
with  his  voice,  that  had  now  that  melancholy  tone  of  a  pine 
swept  by  the  wind,  and  now  the  tone  of  a  trumpet  that  calls  to 
battle.     In  his  grand  moments  of  inspiration  there  was  an  air 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         181 

as  of  eternal  youth  about  his  animated  features  and  sinewy 
form,  as  though  a  ray  from  another  world  had  fallen  on  him, 
at  once  the  light  and  forecast  of  immortality.' 

"And  I  may  apply  to  him  his  own  eloquent  words,  descriptive 
of  his  friend,  Sargent  S.  Prentiss :  'He  rose  higher  and  higher, 
and  went  up,  and  up,  and  on,  and  on,  and  on — far,  far  away, 
like  the  flight  of  the  carrier  pigeon.  It  was  now  the  music  of 
sweet  sounds,  and  anon  it  was  the  roar  of  the  elements. 
The  human  reeds  bowed  and  waved  before  his  blasts,  or  lifted 
their  heads  and  basked  in  his  sunshine.' 

"It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  too,  that  the  same  extraordinary 
charm,  though  in  different  degree,  showed  itself  in  Mr.  Wise's 
private  conversation  and  personal  intercourse.  Many  and  many 
a  time,  as  boy  and  as  young  man,  have  I  listened  with  delight 
to  his  familiar  talks.  He  was  never  more  charming  than  in  his 
own  home,  or  in  the  familiar  circle  of  friends.  He  did  not, 
as  is  so  often  the  case,  grow  smaller  by  proximity ;  and  it  can 
be  truly  said  that  those  who  knew  him  best  most  admired  and 
loved  him. 

"I  shall  attempt  no  summary  of  Mr.  Wise's  career  or  char- 
acter. I  could  not  do  so  impartially,  even  if  it  were  necessary. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  his  private  life  was  pure,  just,  generous, 
and  faithful  in  every  relation.  My  remembrance  of  him  is 
among  my  most  precious  possessions." 

It  has  been  said  of  General  Wise,  who  gave  his  first  born  and 
his  fortune  to  his  State,  that  he  was  "First  at  the  Cross  and 
last  at  the  Sepulchre." 

He  was  the  parole  commissioner  at  Appomattox,  where  he 
surrendered,  to  Gen.  George  Gordon  Meade,  who  married  his 
second  wife's  sister. 

After  the  surrender  he  settled  in  Richmond  and  resumed  the 
practice  of  law.  When  Lincoln  made  his  memorable  visit  to 
Richmond,  Governor  Wise  was  the  one  man  whose  personal 
advice  he  sought. 

Governor  Wise  had  several  homes.  As  a  child  he  lived  at 
his  father's  home,  "Clifton."  He  then  lived  at  "Edge  Hill," 
near  Drummbndtown,  and  then  at  "Only,"  on  Onancock  Creek, 
from  1847  to  1855.  After  his  retirement  as  governor,  he  pur- 
chased "Rolleston,"  in  Princess  Anne  Countv,  from  his  brother, 


182  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

in  1860.  and  after  the  war  lived  in  the  John  Marshall  House,  on 
the  corner  of  Xintli  and  Marshall  streets  in  Richmond.  He  died 
in  the  house  of  his  son,  John  S.  Wise,  opposite  the  Marshall 
House.    He  was  a  Mason. 

For  facts  concerning  the  life  of  Governor  Wise,  see  among 
many  other  works : 

"The  Life  of  Henry  A.  Wise,  of  Virginia."  Barton  Haxall 
\\'ise. 

"Henry  A.  \\'ise  and  the  Campaign  of  1855,"  James  P. 
Hambleton. 

"The  Governors  of  Virginia,"  Smith. 
"Our  Living  Representative  Men,"  John  Savage. 
"The  End  of  An  Era,"  John  S.  Wise. 
"Life  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,"  L.  G.  Tyler. 
"Belles,  Beaux  and  Brains  of  the  Sixties,"  T.  E.  De  Leon. 
"Portrait    Gallery    of    Distinguished    American    Statesmen," 
W.  H.  Brown. 

"Library  of  Southern  Literature." 

L'p  to  this  point  reference  to  the  military  service  of  the  Wises 
in  Virginia  during  the  War  between  the  States  has  been  little 
referred  to.  John  Sergeant  Wise  prepared  before  his  death  a 
very  complete  and  interesting  roster  showing  the  service  of  all 
the  men  of  the  Wise  family,  including  the  sons,  nephews, 
cousins,  and  sons-in-law  of  Gen.  Henry  A.  Wise,  who  was 
naturallv  regarded  as  the  head  of  the  family  in  Virginia.  This 
roster  was  printed,  and  a  copy  thereof  presented  in  1908  to 
Lee  Camp,  Xo.  1,  Confederate  Veterns,  Richmond,  Va.,  along 
with  an  oil  portrait  of  General  ^^'ise.  Capt.  Henry  A.  Wise,  of 
Baltimore  and  Xorf(^lk.  ne]:)hew  of  General  Wise,  and  the  senior 
member  of  the  family,  made  a  brief  address  of  presentation. 
This  portrait  was  i)ainted  by  Conrad  Wise  Chapman,  a  son  of 
William  Chapman,  the  artist  of  Virginia  and  Rome.  Conrad 
AMse  Chapman,  named  after  General  \\^ise,  served  on  General 
Wise's  staff  and  was  himself  a  noted  artist.  The  roster  in  part 
follows : 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         183 


Confederate  Roster  of  the  Family  of 
Henry  Alexander  Wise. 


1.  Henry  Alexander  Wise. 

1861 — April,  commissioned  brigadier-general  P.  A.  C.  S.,  and 
served  in  Kanawha  Valley. 

1862-3 — February,  at  Roanoke  Island ;  Jnne.  engaged  in 
defense  of  Richmond,  and  afterwards  on  lines  at 
Chafifin's  Farm,  and  on  demonstration  against  enemy 
at  Williamsburg. 

1863-4 — In  South  Carolina,  at  Charleston,  Adams  Run,  and 
in  battles  at  Abbepoole  and  Johns  Island,  and  lesser 
invasions. 

1864 — Ordered  to  Va.,  engaged  at  Nottoway  Bridge.  Port 
Walthall  Junction,  Drewry's  Bluff;  fought  first  twO' 
battles  at  Petersburg;  afterwards  with  Lee  at  Peters- 
burg: in  trenches  until  Retreat;  promoted  major- 
general  for  distinguished  gallantry  at  Sailor's  Creek; 
surrendered  at  Appomattox;  one  of  the  Commissioners 
of  Parole. 

Sons. 

2.  Obidiah  Jennings  Wise. 

1861— Private  Co.  'T,"  1st  Va.  Infty. 

1861 — Captain  ''Richmond  Light  Infantry  Blues,"  Co.  "A," 

46th    Va.    Infty. ;     served    at    Acquia    Creek    and    in 

Kanawha  Valley. 
Ig52 — February    8,    wounded    and    captured    in    Battle    of 

Roanoke  Island.     Died  February  9,  1862. 

3.  Rev.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  Jr. 
1862 — Served  as  Chaplain,  Wise's  Brigade. 

186/| — Volunteered  in  defense  of  Staunton  River  Bridge. 

4.  Richard  Alsop  Wise. 

1861 — Lieut,  and  A.  D.  C.  in  Kanawha  \^alley. 
1852 — Lieut,  and  A.  D.  C,  Roanoke  Island. 


184  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Private  in  Goochland  Troops,  4th  Va.  Cav. 
1864-5 — Capt.     and    Asst.     Insp.     Gen.       Surrendered    with 
Johnston's  Army. 

5.  John  Sergeant  A\'ise. 

1862-3-^1 — Cadet  Va.  Mil.  Inst. ;  wounded  with  Corps  of 
Cadets,  Battle  of  New  Market.  Promoted  Second 
Lieut,  and  Drill-Master,  P.  A.  C.  S. 

1865 — Adjt.  Art.  defenses  Richmond,  and  Danville  R.  R. ; 
bore  last  dispatch  from  Pres.  Davis  to  Gen.  Lee  and 
from  Gen.  Lee  to  Pres.  Davis.  Surrendered  with 
Johnston's  Army. 

Sons-in-Law\ 

6.  Dr.  Alexander  Yelverton  Peyton  Garnett. 
(Married  Mary  Ellen  Wise.) 

1861-5 — Surgeon  in  Confederate  Army.  Family  Physician 
to  Pres.  Davis. 

7.  Frederick  Plumer  Hobson. 
(Married  Anne  Jennings  Wise.) 

1861 — Second  Lieut.  Goochland  Troops.  Volunteered,  but  re- 
jected for  physical  disability.  His  home  a  hospital 
and  resort  for  refugees  throughout  the  war. 

8.  William  Carrington  Mayo. 
(Married  Margaretta  Ellen  Wise.) 

1862 — Returned  from  France,  and,  although  very  lame  from 
an  accident,  volunteered  as  private  in  "Richmond 
Grays,"  Co.  "A,"  1st  Va.  Infty.,  afterwards  Co.  "C," 
12th  Va.  Infty.,  Mahone's  Brigade.  Fought  from 
Fredericksburg  to  Appomattox.  Desperately  wounded 
at  Spotsylvania  C.  H.,  and  received  five  minor  wounds. 
Repeatedly  declined  promotion.  Surrendered  at  Appo- 
mattox as  orderly  sergeant  "Richmond  Grays.'' 

Nephews. 

9.  Dr.  John  James  Henry  Wise. 

(Son  of  John  James  Wise  and  Harriet  Wilkins.) 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         185 

1861-5 — Surgeon  C.  S.  A.  Served  in  hospitals  at  Richmond, 
Danville,  and  elsewhere. 

10.  George  Douglas  Wise. 
(Brother  of  above.) 

1861 — Capt.  and  Brigade  Inspector.  Served  until  his  death, 
in  June.  1864.  from  wounds  received  in  defense  of 
Petersburg. 

11.  George  Douglas  Wise. 

(Son  of  Hon.  Tully  Robinson  Wise  and  Margaret  Douglas 
Wise.) 

1861 — Adjt.  1st  Ky.  Regt..  Manassas. 

1862-5 — Capt.  and  Inspector,  Stevenson's  Division,  Johnston's 
Army.  Captured  and  escaped  at  Vicksburg;  carried 
dispatches  from  Pemberton  to  Johnston ;  desperately 
wounded  at  Resaca :  served  under  Johnston  and  Hood 
until  close  of  war,  and  surrendered  with  Johnston's 
Army.     (See  sketch,  p.  152.) 

12.  James  Madison  Wise. 
(Brother  of  above.) 

1861-5 — Captain  and  Ord.  Officer,  Wise's  Brigade.  Sur- 
rendered at  Appomattox. 

13.  Peyton  Wise. 
(Brother  of  above.) 
1861— Capt.  46th  Va.  Infty. 
1862— Major  46th  Va.  Infty. 
1863— Lieut. -Col.  46th  Va.  Infty. 
186^1 — June,  wounded  at  Petersburg. 
1864 — November,  captured. 

1865 — Exchanged  and  rejoined  his  regiment.  Surrendered 
at  Appomattox.     (See  sketch,  p.  155.) 

14.  Franklin  Morgan  Wise. 
(Brother  of  above.) 

1861-5 — In  Confederate  States  P.  O.  Dept.  Member  of  Regi- 
ment of  Dept.  Clerks,  and  frequently  called  out  in 
defense  of  Richmond  affairs  with  Federal  raiders. 


186  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

15.  Lkwis  Warrextox  Wise. 
(Brother  of  above.) 
1862— Cadet  V.  AI.  I. 

1862 — Sergeant-AIajor  46th  \'a.  Infty. 
1864 — Wounded  in  Battle  of  the  Crater. 
1865 — Surrendered  at  Appomattox. 

16.  Hexry  Alexander  Wise,  Jr. 

(Son  of  John  Cropper  Wise  and  Anne  Finney.) 

1861— Cadet  V.  M.  I.,  and  Adj.  46th  Va.  Infty. 

1862 — Captured  Roanoke  Island,  and  paroled. 

1862-5— Captain  and  Asst.  Prof.  V.  M.  I. 

1864 — Commanded  Corps  Cadets  in  Battle  of  New  Market 
after  Commandant  was  wounded;    led  charge. 

1864-5 — Served  with  Cadets  in  Richmond  trenches.  Sur- 
rendered at  Appomattox.     (See  sketch,  p.  167.) 

17.  William  Bowman  Wise. 
(Brother  of  above.) 

1861 — Private  Co.  "F,"  6th  Va.  Infty.,  Alahone's  Brigade. 

1862 — Wounded  near  Alalvern  Hill. 

1862-4 — Transferred  and  served  as  Private  "R.  L.  I.  Blues," 

Co.  "A,"  46th  Va.  Infty.     Lost  foot  in  battle  at  Port 

Walthall  Junction,  near  Petersburg. 
May,   1864 — Commissioned  Drill-Master  and  served  to  close 

of  war. 

18.  Louis  Curraye  Hammersley  Finney  Wise. 
(Brother  of  above.) 

1862-5— Cadet  V.  M.  I.:  wounded,  Alay  15,  1864,  Battle  of 
New  Market,  Va. 

1864-5 — Served  with  Cadets  in  Richmond  trenches.  Sur- 
rendered with  Lee's  Army. 

19.  William  Frederick  Wise. 
(Son  of  John  Stewart  Wise.) 
1861-2— Private  Co.  "I,"  59th  Va.  Infty. 

1863— Second  Lieut.  Co.  "C."  13th  Va.  Cav.  Wounded  at 
Brandy  Station.  Retired  ]\Iay,  1864.  Rejoined. 
Wounded  and  captured  at  Sailor's  Creek. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         187 

From  the  foregoing  record  it  Avill  be  observed  that  every  male 
member  of  the  Wise  family  of  Virginia,  over  fifteen  years  of 
age,  except  Maj.  John  Cropper  Wise,  who  was  an  invalid, 
served  in  the  Confederate  Army,  and  that  of  the  nineteen 
enumerated  two  were  killed  and  ten  were  wounded,  including 
two  crippled  for  life. 

The  ancestry  of  Governor  Wise's  second  wife,  Sarah 
Sergeant,  is  given  in  Chapter  XIX.,  and  her  descendants  in 
Chapters  XVI.,  XVII.,  and  XVIII. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Descendants  of  Henry  Alexander  Wise  and  His 
First  Wife,  Anne  Jennings. 


Including  the  Garnett,  Hobson,  and 
Haxall  Alliances. 


The  first  wife  of  Gov.  Henry  Alexander  \\'ise  was  Anne 
Jennings,  whom  he  married  October  8.  1828.  She  was  born  in 
1809  and  died  in  1837.  and  was  the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Obidiah  Jennings,  of  \\'ashington.  Pa.,  whose  family  had  long 
been  noted  in  X-'irginia  for  the  intellectuality  and  the  personal 
beauty  of  its  members. 

Dr.  Jennings,  a  man  distinguished  in  early  life  at  the  bar, 
and  later  in  the  ministry,  was  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Washington  when  Henry  A.  \\'ise  attended  Wash- 
ing College  from  1822  to  1825. 

By  Anne  Jennings,  Henry  Alexander  \Mse  had  issue : 

1.  Obidiah  Jennings  W^ise. 

2.  Mary  Elizabeth  Wise. 

3.  Anne  Jennings  Wise. 

4.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  Jr. 

2.  ]\Iary  Elizabeth  Wise,-  the  eldest  daughter,  was  named 
after  her  father's  two  aunts — Mary  and  Elizabeth.  She  was 
born  in  Nashville.  Tenn..  September  21,  1829.  and  died  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  February  15,  1898.  She  married  Dr.  Alexander 
Yelverton  Peyton  Garnett.  of  Virginia,  who  was  born  in  Essex 
County.  September  19.  1819.  and  died  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
July  11,  1888.  Dr.  Garnett  was  a  son  of  ]\luscoe  Garnett,  born 
July  12,  1786,  and  died  in  1869.  and  Maria  Battaile.  He 
settled  in  Washington  in  1848.  where  he  lived  until  his  death, 
with  the  exception  of  the  interim  of  the  Civil  War.  when  he 
served  in  the  Confederate  Army  as  a  surgeon,  and  became  the 
private  physician  of  President  Davis,  with  his  home  in  Rich- 
mond. 

The  lineage  of  the  \'irginia  Garnetts  is  well  established  and 
most  distinguished. 

The  children  of  ]\lary  Elizabeth  \\'ise  and  Dr.  Garnett  were: 

1.  Henry  Wise  Garnett,  Esq.,  of  Washington.  D.  C. 

2.  Dr.  Alexander  Yelverton  Peyton  Garnett. 

3.  Jennings  \\'ise  Garnett. 

4.  Annie  \\'ise  Garnett. 


192 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


1.  Henry  Wise  Garnett  was  born  in  W'ashington,  D.  C, 
March  31,  1849,  and  died  at  Clifton  Springs,  N.  Y.,  July  10, 
1897.  After  graduating  from  the  University  of  Virginia,  he 
took  his  law  degree  at  Columbia  College,  Washington,  D.   C, 


ANNE  JENNINGS 
First  wife  of  Gov.   Henry  A.   Wise 


and  married  Marion  Morson.  November  4,  1874.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  James  Marion  ]\lorson,  Esq.,  of  Virginia,  born 
August  12,  1817,  died  December  30,  1868,  and  Ellen  Carter 
Bruce,  born  August  15,  1820.  and  died  February,  1862.  Upon 
his  death  the  following  proceedings  occurred  in  Washington: 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         193 

Extract   From   the  Book  of  AIixutes  of  the  Bar  Asso- 
ciation OF  THE  District  of  Columbia  for  the 
Year  1897. 

A  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Bar  of  the  District  of 
Cokimbia  was  held  at  three  (3)  o'clock  P.  ]M.,  on  the  19th  day 
of  Tulv.  1897,  in  the  Old  Circuit  Room  in  the  City  Hall,  for 
appropriate  action  upon  the  death  of  the  late  Henry  Wise 
Garnett.  Esquire. 

The  meeting-  was  called  to  order  by  ^Ir.  Henry  E.  Davis,  the 
president  of  the  Bar  Association,  and.  on  motion,  Mr.  Wm.  A. 
Maury  was  elected  permanent  chairman,  and  Mr.  Wm.  Meyer 
Lewin.  secretary,  of  the  meeting. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  W.  D.  Davidge  the  following  gentlemen 
were  appointed  a  committee  for  the  preparation  of  appropriate 
resolutions  in  commemoration  of  Mr.  Garnett : 

Messrs.  Henry  E.  Davis,  W.  D.  Davidge,  Enoch  Totten, 
R.  Ross  Perry,'  A.  S.  Worthington,  ^^'m.  A.  Gordon,  and 
Samuel  Maddox. 

The  committee  retired  and,  reappearing,  reported,  through 
yir.  Davidge,  the  following  resolutions,  who  moved  their 
adoption : 

In  the  death  of  Henry  Wise  Garnett  the  Bar  of  the  District 
of  Columbia  has  suffered  a  serious  loss.  It  is  the  more  keenly 
felt  because  it  is  untimely.  In  the  due  course  of  nature,  many 
more  years  of  useful  and  honorable  activity  seemed  to  lie  before 
him.  '  We,  his  surviving  brethren  of  the  bar.  assembled  to 
testify  to  our  appreciation  of  his  life  and  of  its  attainments, 
discharge  a  duty  to  ourselves  as  well  as  to  him  in  thus  declaring 
our  judgment  of  his  character  and  our  grief  at  his  death. 

Therefore,  be  it  resolved : 

1.  That  in  our  opinion,  the  preeminent  example  of  Henry 
Wise  Garnett's  life  was  its  large,  brave,  and  honorable  activity. 
Coming  to  the  bar  at  an  early  age,  he  soon  gave  evidence  that  he 
understood  the  full  measure  of  responsibility  which  professional 
life  demands.  He  married  after  he  had  been  but  a  few  years 
in  active  practice.  Thus  he  assumed  at  the  threshold  of  his 
career  all  of  the  duties  which  society  imposes  upon  those  whose 
energv,  intelligence,  and  integrity  constitute  her  very  heart's 
blood!  He  never  failed  in  the  discharge  of  those  duties.  Pro- 
fessionallv.  he  was  always  equal  to  any  demand  made  upon  him. 


194 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


In  ability  among  the  first ;  in  courage  never  failing ;  in  rest- 
less activity  unceasing;  pure  in  his  personal  life;  he  was  the 
embodiment  of  those  qualities  which  are  at  once  the  require- 
ment and  the  honorable  characteristics  of  the  advocate.  In 
private   life   he   was,   as   might   have   been   expected    from   his 


HENRY    WISE    GARNETT,    Esq. 


conduct  in  public,  a  dutiful  son,  a  devoted  husband,  a  tender 
father,  a  generous  and  loyal  friend,  a  good  citizen.  He  has  gone 
to  his  well-earned  rest  with  his  task  fully,  freely,  gladly  done. 

2.  That  we  sympathize  with  the  family  of  our  deceased 
brother  in  their  sorrow,  and  we  trust  that  they  may  be  com- 
forted by  the  memories  which  a  well-spent  life  leaves  as  a 
tender  solace  and  an  enduring  heritage. 

3.  That  the  United  States  Attorney  present  these  resolutions 
to  the  Courts  for  appropriate  action,  and  that  a  copy  of  them 
be  sent  to  the  familv  of  the  deceased. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         195 

Eulogies  upon  the  life  and  character  of  Mr.  Garnett  were 
delivered  by  Messrs.  Maury,  Davidge,  Perry,  Davis,  and 
Worthington.  after  which  the  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted. 

On  motion  the  meeting  then  adjourned. 

Wm.  Meyer  Lewin,  Secretary. 

Henry  Wise  Garnett,  Esq.,  and  Marion  Morson,  had  the 
following  children : 

1.  Maria  Garnett. 

2.  Ellen  Garnett. 

3.  Dr.  Alexander  Yelverton  Peyton  Garnett. 

4.  Henry  Wise  Garnett. 

1.  Maria  Garnett  was  born  September  2,  1875,  and  married, 
September  26,  1906,  Henry  Straith  Venn,  the  son  of  Henry 
Venn,  of  England,  and  Isabel  Louisa  De  Butts.  Mr.  Venn 
died  soon  after  his  marriage.  Of  this  union  one  child,  Henry 
Garnett  Venn,  was  born,  July  3,  1908,  and  died  July  6,  1908. 

2.  Ellen  Garnett,  the  second  daughter,  was  born  February  12, 
1877.  She  is  unmarried  and  resides  with  her  widowed  sister  in 
Washington. 

3.  Dr.  Alexander  Yelverton  Peyton  Garnett,  the  elder  son. 
was  born  June  9,  1881.  After  attending  Emerson  Institute  in 
Wasliington,  he  entered  the  University  of  Virginia,  in  1898, 
took  the  academic  course  up  to  1901,  and  was  graduated  in 
medicine  in  1906.  Beta  Theta  Pi  Fraternity.  June  12.  1915, 
he  married  Mildred  Harper  Poor,  the  daughter  of  James  Harper 
Poor,  of  New  York  City,  and  Evelyn  Bolton.  The  issue  of  this 
union  is  Alexander  Yelverton  Peyton  Garnett,  Jr.,  born  May 
4.  1916.     Dr.  Garnett  now  resides  in  \\^ashington. 

4.  Henry  Wise  Garnett,  the  younger  son  and  fourth  child  of 
Henrv  Wise  Garnett  and  Marion  Morson,  was  born  September 
24,  1882.  He  attended  Emerson  Institute,  the  Episcopal  High 
School,  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  was  graduated  from  the 
Biltmore  School  of  Forestry  in  May,  1911.  His  home  is  also 
in  Washington. 


196  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

2.  Dr.  Alexander  Yelverton  Peyton  Garnett,  the  second  son 
of  Dr.  A.  Y.  P.  Garnett  and  Mary  Elizabeth  Wise,  was  born 
in  Washington,  September  18,  1855,  and  died,  unmarried,  March 
12.  1886. 

3.  Jennings  Wise  Garnett,  third  son  of  his  father,  was  born 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  March  1,  1859.  Graduating  from 
William  and  ^lary  College  in  1876  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts,  when  but  seventeen  years  old,  he  occupied  the  chair  of 
Belles  Letters  and  Metaphysics  at  that  ancient  institution  during 
the  following  year.  In  July,  1877,  John  W.  Holcomb  wrote 
into  the  report  of  the  faculty  of  William  and  Mary  College  the 
following  words : 

"For  nearly  fifty  years  I  have  been  officially  connected  with 
educational  institutions,  including  the  United  States  ^Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  and  three  colleges  in  Virginia.  \Vith 
no  wish  to  unduly  laud  or  exaggerate,  I  state,  after  much 
reflection,  that  I  ne\er'met  the  superior,  and,  but  once,  the  equal, 
in  mental  power  of  Jennings  Garnett." 

In  the  fall  of  1877  he  entered  the  University  of  A'irginia  at 
the  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  won  the  degree  of  A.  'SI.  in  two 
}ears — a  thing  that  has  seldom  been  done.  He  died  August  7, 
1880,  the  most  noted  youth  in  his  State,  his  death  eliciting  reso- 
lutions of  respect  from  the  faculties  of  the  two  great  colleges 
he  had  attended.  In  a  memorial  volume  published  at  his  death, 
it  is  said  by  a  number  of  his  associates  that  his  was  the  most 
brilliant  mind  that  had  ever  been  known  at  the  institutions  of 
learning  which  he  attended. 

4.  Annie  Wise  Garnett,  the  only  daughter  and  fourth  or 
youngest  child  of  Mary  Elizabeth  Wise,  was  born  November 
18,  1863,  and  married,  February  8,  1893,  ^Macomb  G.  Foster, 
of  Xew  York  City,  where  they  now  live.  They  have  no 
children. 

3.  Anne  Jennings  Wise,  born  April  28,  1837,  second  daughter 
of  Henry  Alexander  Wise  by  his  first  wife,  Anne  Jennings, 
married  Frederick  Plumer  Hobson,  of  "Eastwood,"  Goochland 
County,  Virginia,  who  was  born  February  24.  1833.  in  Peters- 
burg, and  died  April  4.  1868.     He  was  the  son  of  John  Cannon 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AXD  DESCEXDAXTS         197 

Hobson,  a  merchant  of  Richmond,  and  Mary  ^Morrison.  Mrs. 
Hobson  survived  her  husband  many  years  and  died  June  3, 
1914,  in  Williamsburg,  Va.  She  was  a  remarkable  woman,  and 
was  thought  by  many  to  be  the  living  image  of  her  father. 
Devoted  to  Hterary  pursuits,  she  produced  a  number  of  poems 
of  merit,  pubhshed  in  several  editions  on  the  occasion  of  the 
unveiHng  of  the  statute  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  in  Richmond, 
May  29,  1890,  principal  among  which  was  a  memorial  ode. 
She  was  especiahy  noted  as  a  student  of  the  Bible.  In  her  youth 
she  was  a  noted  belle  of  Richmond  society.  She  lived  at  ''East- 
wood" where  most  of  the  younger  members  of  her  father's 
family  refugeed  during  the  war.  It  was  an  unusually  fine 
country  home  in  those  days,  and  boasted  among  its  other  ad- 
vantages one  of  the  first  systems  of  running  water  in  rural 
Virginia,  as  well  as  a  furnace.  "Eastwood"  lay  directly  in  the 
path  of  Dahlgren's  raid  and  was  visited  by  the  raiders,  who 
almost  succeeded  in  capturing  Mr.  Seddon,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  General  W^ise,  who  were  spending  the  week-end  with 
their  families  at  "Eastwood"  and  "Sabot  Hill." 

Anne  Jennings  Wise  lived  in  Ashland,  \  a.,  for  many  years 
after  her  husband's  death,  his  "Eastwood"  estate  in  Goochland 
being  sold  soon  after  the  war.  During  the  latter  years  of  her 
life  she  resided  in  Williamsburg,  where  she  found  the  most  con- 
genial surroundings  and  a  number  of  relatives,  including  her 
cousin,  Mrs.  Margaret  Custis  Hansford,  and  her  niece,  Virginia 
Peachy  \\^ise.     She  survived  both  of  her  sons,  who  were : 

1.  The  Rev.  John  Cannon  Hobson,  who  was  born  in  the 
Executive  Mansion,  in  Richmond,  April  22,  1858,  while 
his  grandfather  was  Governor,  and  died  February  15, 
1890.  After  attending  Richmond  College,  he  entered 
William  and  Mary  College  and  took  the  degree  of  M.  A. 
there.  After  his  graduation  he  was  for  one  session  a 
sub-professor  at  William  and  Mary.  When  but  twenty 
years  old  he  married.  May  20,  1878,  Alice  Virginia 
Pettitt,  born  May  18,  1860,  daughter  of  John  M.  Pettitt 
and  Mary  Frances  Richardson  of  Accomack  County. 
After  his  marriage  he  entered  the  Theological  Seminary 
of  Virginia,  and  upon  being  ordained  was  called  to  St. 


198  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

John's  Church  in  Petersburg,  Va.  Ill  health  soon  com- 
pelled him  to  seek  a  change  of  climate,  and  he  accepted 
a  call  to  St.  Mark's  Church  at  Amherst  C.  H.,  in  which 
in  commemoration  of  his  faithful  services  the  congre- 
gation placed  a  beautiful  memorial  window  upon  his 
untimely  death.  But  thirty-two  years  of  age  when  he 
died,  John  Cannon  Hobson  had  already  made  an  enviable 
reputation  in  the  Episcopal  Ministry.  He  possessed  a 
brilliant  mind  and  was  a  gifted  orator.  Of  strikingly  hand- 
some appearance,  he  combined  with  exceptional  power 
of  intellect  a  personal  magnetism  that  made  many  friends 
and  commanded  the  sympathetic  allegiance  of  his  con- 
gregation. He  was  noted  above  all  things  for  the  sweet- 
ness of  his  disposition,  and  his  patient  fortitude  under 
physical  suffering  that  impaired  his  efforts  throughout 
his  short  life.  Soon  after  his  death  his  widow  married 
Dr.  E.  C.  McSparran,  of  Richmond.  Her  children  by 
the  Rev.  John  Cannon  Hobson  are : 

1.  John  Cannon  Hobson,  of  Glen  Morgan,  W.  Va.,  born 
July  31,  1879.     Married,  December  25,  1906,  Maude 
Crittenden     Douthit,     daughter     of     Samuel     James 
Douthit    and     Elizabeth     Archer    Isbell,     and    had 
Carolyn    Douthit   Hobson,    born    October   27,    1907 
John  Cannon  Hobson,  Jr.,  born  October  27,   1907 
Maude  Jennings  Wise  Hobson,  born  March  29,  1911 

"  and  Henry  Wise  Hobson,  born  November  7.  1912. 

2.  Henry  Wise  Hobson,  born  July  31,  1879;  died  at 
sea  of  suffocation  from  fire  aboard  ship,  July  8,  1896. 
He  was  serving,  for  his  health,  as  a  cabin  boy  on  a 
Pacific  merchant  ship. 

3.  George  Richardson  Hobson,  born  April  15,  1883. 
Graduate  V.  M.  I.,  1905.     Civil  Engineer. 

4.  Mary  Morrison  Hobson,  born  December  2,  1884. 
Married,  August  26,  1908,  John  William  Bryan,  of 
Birmingham,  Ala.,  and  had:  Colgan  Hobson  Bryan, 
born  October  7,  1909 ;  Mary  Virginia  Bryan,  born 
August  16,  1911;  and  Annie  Sophie  Bryan,  born 
Tune  28,  1914. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         199 

5.  Otelia  Armistead  Hobson,  born  May  5,  1886;  died 
September  9,  1886. 

6.  Rev.  Jennings  Wise  Hobson,  born  August  15,  1887. 
William  and  Mary  College,  1904-05.  Graduate 
V.  M.  I.,  1909.  Graduate  Theological  Seminary  of 
Virginia,  1913.  Rector  St.  Thomas'  Episcopal 
Church,  Abingdon,  Va.,  1913-16.  Rector  Christ 
Church,  Bluefield,  W.  Va.,  1917.  Married,  Novem- 
ber 5,  1913,  Mary  Berkeley,  daughter  of  Edmund 
Berkeley  and  Julia  Ramsey,  and  had  Julia  Edmonia 
Hobson. 

7.  Alice  Virginia  Hobson,  born  October  16,  1888. 
Married,  June  14,  1909,  Harwood  Syme  Haynes,  of 
Richmond,  Va.,  son  of  WilHam  Boyd  Haynes,  of 
Charles  City  County,  Virginia,  and  Adelaide  Victoria 
Goddin,  and  had :  Alice  Hobson  Haynes,  born 
January  22,  1911,  in  Jacksonville,  Fla. ;  and  Helen 
Sergeant  Haynes,  born  November  2,  1913,  in  Atlanta, 
Ga. 

2.   Henry   Wise   Hobson,    Esq.,   born  July  9,    1858;    died 
August  13,  1898. 

The  following  brief  sketch  of  his  life  was  prepared  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Bar  Association  of  Denver,  Colo.,  of  w^hich  com- 
mittee John  S.  Macbeth,  Joel  F.  Vaile,  L.  M.  Cuthbert,  Judge 
Wilbur  F.  Stone,  and  Judge  E.  T.  Wells  were  members.  It  was 
printed  along  with  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Hobson  in  the  record  book 
of  the  Colorado  Bar  Association  for  the  year  1898,  in  Volume 
II.  of  its  records,  p.  179: 

''Henry  Wise  Hobson. 

"Henry  Wise  Hobson  was  the  son  of  Frederick  Plumer  Hob- 
son, Esq..  and  Anne  Jennings  Wise.  His  grandfather,  John  C. 
Hobson,  was  a  leading  merchant  of  the  city  of  Richmond,  Va., 
and  his  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Gov.  Henry  A.  Wise. 
Deceased  was  born  July  9,  1858,  in  Goochland  County,  Virginia, 
and  died  August  13,  1898,  in  the  City  of  New  York.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1887,  he  married  Katherine  Thayer  Jermain,  who,  with  her 
family  of  four  children,  survives  him. 


200  •  Col.  JOHX  WISE 

"In  his  earlv  prime  Mr.  Hobson  won  a  place  in  the  front  rank 
of  his  chosen  profession  and  success  remained  with  him  to  the 
end.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's  plantation ;  and.  after 
graduating-  with  high  honors  at  William  and  Mary  College, 
attended  the  law  school  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  where  he 
received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Law  in  1876.  After  taking 
his  degree  Mr.  Hobson  entered  upon  the  practice  of  law  with  his 
uncle,  Mr.  John  S.  Wise,  at  Richmond,  Va.  He  came  to 
Colorado  in  1880  and  located  at  Buena  Vista,  where  he  rapidly 
acquired  a  satisfactory  practice  in  mining  law. 

"He  was  appointed  United  States  District  Attorney  for 
Colorado  during  Mr.  Cleveland's  first  term,  and  his  administra- 
tion of  the  office  was  characterized  by  vigorous  and  successful 
prosecution  of  violators  of  Federal  statutes.  As  a  recognition 
of  his  high  ability  and  zeal  as  district  attorney,  he  was  ap- 
pointed special  United  States  attorney  for  the  entire  West,  and 
was  immediately  placed  in  charge  of  the  controversy  with  the 
Mormon  Church  in  Utah.  He  rendered  distinguished  serxices 
to  the  Government  in  this  contest,  in  connection  with  the  well- 
known  Virgil  and  St.  Vrain  Land  Grant  Case,  involving  several 
million  acres  of  land  in  Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  and  in 
certain  proceedings  against  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany arising  from  the  de\^astation  of  timber  lands  in  Washington 
Territory. 

"Upon  the  inauguration  of  President  Harrison,  Mr.  Hobson, 
having  previously  thereto  affiliated  with  the  Democratic  party, 
tendered  his  resignation  of  both  of  his  offices.  He  was  re- 
quested by  the  new  attorney-general  to  \\'ithdraw  his  resigna- 
tion, but  declined  to  do  so,  and  subsequently  devoted  himself 
to  the  practice  of  law  in  the  city  of  Denver,  where  he  rapidlv 
secured  a  large  clientage.  For  some  years  prior  to  his  death  he 
was  chief  counsel  for  the  Union  Pacific,  Denver  and  Gulf  Rail- 
way Company. 

"Mr.  Hobson  intuitively  grasped  the  fundamental  principles 
of  law.  Possessed  of  a  preeminently  legal  mind,  gifted  with  a 
keen  perception,  he  experienced  l)ut  little  difficulty  in  mastering 
the  most  difficult  and  obstruse  cases.  In  the  practice  of  law  he 
made  no  studied  efi^orts  to  influence  the  court  and  jury  l)y 
concealing  law  or  fact.  By  nature  straiglitforward  and  direct, 
he  conceived  it  to  be  the  duty  of  a  law}'er  to  aid  the  jurv  to 
elicit  facts,  and  the  court  l)y  plainly  and  logically  applying  the 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         201 

principles  of  law  which  he  believed  should  g"o\-ern  the  particular 
case.  He  abhorred  all  trickery  and  resort  to  technicalities.  His 
success  as  an  advocate  as  well  as  a  man  of  affairs  was  largely 
due  to  his  manifest  honesty  and  sincerity  of  purpose.  He  was 
genial  and  generous  with  his  adversaries,  neither  bitter  hor 
vindictive.  His  contests  in  the  courts  were  characterized  with 
fairness,  dignity,  and  courage. 

"Mr.  Hobson  was  essentially  a  man  of  action,  self-reliant,  and 
forceful.  His  marvelous  capacity  for  work  enabled  him  to  ac- 
complish many  things  during  his  comparatively  short  life.  He 
was  cut  off  at  a  time  of  life  when  many  lawyers  who  have 
attained  distinction  are  but  at  the  threshold  of  their  life's  best 
work.  His  grasp  of  legal  principles  and  his  ability  to  utilize 
them  in  practical  affairs  created  a  demand  for  his  services  in 
large  enterprises.  These  Cjualities  led  to  his  employment  as 
chief  counsel  in  the  reorganization  of  the  Union  Pacific,  Denver 
and  Gulf  Railway,  and  the  successful  reorganization  of  that 
system  was  due  to  his  efforts  and  skill  more  than  to  those  of  any 
other  man. 

"As  a  lawyer  he  was  able,  conscientious,  and  fearless.  As  a 
citizen  he  was  upright,  generous,  and  public-spirited.  As  a 
friend  he  was  loyal,  sympathetic,  and  genial.  He  was  a  devoted 
husband  and  father,  unswerving  in  his  fidelity  to  his  domestic 
duties." 

Henry  Wise  Hobson  died  in  the  arms  of  his  uncle  and  former 
law  partner,  in  the  house  of  the  latter  in  New  York  City.  It 
had  long  been  a  fond  wish  with  him  to  associate  with  himself 
in  his  profession  the  son  and  namesake  of  his  uncle — John 
Sergeant  Wise,  Jr.  Accordingly  in  1897  the  latter  repaired  to 
Denver,  after  obtaining  his  legal  education  at  the  New  York 
Law  School,  and  entered  Mr.  Hobson's  office.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  Spanish-American  War  in  1898  he  entered  the  Army  as 
a  lieutenant  of  Volunteers  (4th  Immunes),  and  did  not  return 
to  Denver  when  mustered  out  of  the  service  the  following  year, 
but  entered  the  firm  of  J.  S.  &  H.  A.  Wise  in  New  York. 

For  many  years  Henry  Wise  Hobson  supported  his  mother 
in  Ashland  and  Williamsburg,  Va.,  and  after  his  death  his 
Avidow  did  the  same.     His  nephews  and  nieces  were  educated 


202  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

out  of  his  estate.  They  were  reared  by  their  devoted  grand- 
mother, who  moved  to  Wilhamsbiirg  from  Ashland  after  they 
were  grown,  and  died  there. 

Henry   Wise    Hobson   and   his   wife   were   among   the   most 
generous  persons  to  their  kin  the  writer  has  ever  known. 


HENRY  WISE  HOBSON,  Esq. 
U.  S.  Attorney  for  Colorado 

Henry  Wise  Hobson,  born  July  9,  1858;  died  August  13, 
1898:  married  in  Fitchburg,  Mass.,  December  17.  1887, 
Katherine  Sophia  Thayer,  the  widow  of  Barclay  Jermain,  whom 
she  married  in  1882.  Her  first  husband  died  in  1882,  and  by 
him  she  had  no  issue.  She  was  born  December  3,  1859,  in 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  died  December  3.  1915,  in  New  York  City. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Francis  Samuel  Thayer  of  Dummer- 
ston,   Vt.,  born   September    11,   1822,   and  died   November  26, 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         203 

1880.  Her  mother  was  Catherine  McKie,  of  Washington 
County.  New  York,  who  was  born  June  16,  1827,  and  died  in 
1901.  Samuel  Thayer  was  the  son  of  Adin  Thayer  (1785- 
1858)  and  Mary  Ball  (1795-1864).  Catherine  McKie  was  the 
daughter  of  James  McKie  and  Sophia  Whiteside. 

Henry  Wise  Hobson  and  Katherine  Sophia  Thayer  Jermain 
had  issue : 

1.  Katherine  Thayer  Hobson,  born  in  Denver,  Colo.,  April 
11,  1889.  Educated  in  Dresden,  Germany;  she  mar- 
ried, December  2,  1911,  Dr.  Herbert  Hermann  Otto 
Krause,  son  of  Prof.  Dr.  Martin  Krause  and  Jenny 
Eleanora  Elisabeth  Maschke,  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

2.  Henry  Wise  Hobson,  born  in  Denver,  Colo.,  May  16, 
1891.  He  attended  Cutler  Academy,  Colorado  Springs; 
Phillips  Andover  Academy,  Andover,  Mass. ;  and  was 
graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1914,  where  he  was 
Secretary  of  the  Yale  University  Christian  Association, 
1914-16.  In  1916  he  entered  the  Episcopal  Theological 
Seminary,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  is  now  a  student  there. 

3.  Eleanor  Whiteside  Hobson,  born  in  Denver,  Colo., 
January  7,  1891.  Educated  at  the  Cutler  Academy, 
Colorado  Springs,  she  was  graduated  from  the  Pres- 
byterian Hospital  in  1916;  and  married,  June  22,  1916, 
George  Miner  Makenzie,  of  New  York  City,  son  of 
James  Cameron  Makenzie  and  Ella  Smith. 

4.  Francis  Thayer  Hobson,  born  in  Denver,  Colo.,  Septem- 
ber 4,  1897. "  Attended  Westminster  School,  Simsbury, 
Conn.,  and  entered  Yale  College  in  1916. 

1.  Capt.  Obidiah  Jennings  Wise,  born  April  12,  1831,  fami- 
liarly known  as  O'Jennings  Wise  in  ante-bellum  days,  was  the 
elder  son  of  Governor  Wise  by  his  first  wife.  Of  him  Capt. 
T.  Cooper  De  Leon,  in  his  "Belles,  Beaux  and  Brains  of  the 
Sixties,"  wrote:  "He  was  a  remarkable  man  in  every  regard: 
a  true  cavalier,  scholar,  fighter,  orator,  and  a  duelist  of  note, 
from  principle  more  than  inclination.  As  a  youth,  he  was  noted 
in  public  affairs :  became  a  politician  and  journalist  from  cir- 
cumstance, and  a  soldier  from  choice.     Killed  at  the  head  of  his 


204  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

com])any  in  the  desperate  fight  at  Roanoke  Island,  Fel^ruary  9, 
1862,  his  death  was  perhaps  more  lamented  than  that  of  any 
youth  of  that  hloody  year." 

And  here,  though  long  it  may  seem,  the  beautiful  sketch  of 
Obidiah  Jennings  Wise,  Ijy  the  poetic  Virginia  author,  John 
Esten  Cooke,  is  inserted,  because  the  volume  in  which  it  ap- 
pears— "The  Wearing  of  the  Gray" — has  become  so  scarce  that 
few  have  access  thereto : 

"Jennings  Wise, 
"the  captain  of  'the  blues.' 

"I  found  in  an  old  portfolio,  the  other  day.  the  following  slip 
from  a  Norfolk  paper  of  the  year  1862: 

"  'The  Confederate  steamer  Arrozv  arrived  here  this  morning, 
from  Currituck,  having  communicated  with  a  steamer  sent  down 
to  Roanoke  Island  under  a  flag  of  truce.  She  brought  up  the 
bodies  of  Capt.  O.  J.  Wise,  Lieut.  William  Selden,  and  Captain 
Coles.  Captain  Wise  was  pierced  by  three  balls,  and  Lieutenant 
was  shot  through  the  head.  The  Yankees  who  saw  Captain 
Wise  during  the  fierce  and  unecjual  contest  declare  that  he  dis- 
played a  gallantry  and  valour  never  surpassed.  Alas,  that  he 
has  fallen  in  a  contest  so  unequal !  Young  Selden,  too.  died  at 
his  gun.  while  gallantly  fighting  the  enemy  that  had  gathered 
in  so  superior  numbers  upon  our  shores. 

"  'Last  night,  when  the  steamer  arrived  at  Currituck,  General 
Wise  directed  that  the  coffin  containing  the  remains  of  his  son 
be  opened.  Then,  I  learn  from  those  who  were  present,  a  scene 
transpired  that  words  can  not  describe.  The  old  hero  bent  over 
the  body  of  his  son,  on  whose  pale  face  the  full  moon  threw  its 
light,  kissed  the  cold  brow  many  times,  and  exclaimed,  in  an 
agony  of  emotion:  "Oh.  my  brave  boy,  you  have  died  for  me. 
you  have  died  for  me."  ' 

"What  an  epitaph ! 

"The  grav-haired  father,  forgetting  the  past  and  the  future, 
losing  sight,  for  the  mc anient,  of  the  war  and  all  other  things — 
bending  and  weeping  over  the  dead  body  of  the  son  who  'had 
displaved  a  gallantry  and  valour  never  surpassed' — giving  his 
heart's  blood  to  the  cause  he  loved — the  annals  of  tragedy  con- 
tain no  spectacle  more  touching ! 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AXD  DESCENDANTS         205 

"Of  the  remarkable  young  man  who  thus  poured  forth  his 
blood,  and  passed  away,  before  the  age  of  thirty,  in  defense  of 
his  native  soil,  I  propose  to  give  a  few  personal  recollections. 
It  is  hard  that  a  noble  soul  should  go  from  the  haunts  of  the 
living,  to  be  remembered  only  by  the  small  circle  of  loving- 
friends  who  knew  and  appreciated  him.  And  though  I  shall 
not  attempt  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  memoir  of  }'<)ung 
Jennings  Wise,  my  few  words  may  not  prove  uninteresting  to 
those  who  watched,  from  a  distance,  his  meteoric  career,  and 
perhaps  admired  his  brave  spirit,  while  ignorance  of  his  real 
character  led  him  to  misunderstand  him. 

"Jennings  Wise ! 

"How  many  memories  that  name  recalls! — memories  of 
gentleness  and  chivalry,  and  lofty  honour,  to  those  who  knew 
him  truly ;  of  fancied  arrogance  and  haughty  pride,  and  bloody 
instincts,  to  those  who  accepted  common  rumour  for  their 
estimate  of  him.  For  there  were  many  rumours  of  this  de- 
scription afloat — and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  was 
some  excuse  for  the  misconception.  He  had  little  of  the  spirit 
of  conciliation  if  lie  believed  a  man  to  be  his  foe;  managed 
early  to  arouse  bitter  enmities :  and  continued  to  defy  his 
opponents  without  deigning  to  explain  his  character  or  his 
motives.  Before  he  was  better  understood — when  the  mists  were 
only  beginning  to  clear  away,  and  show  his  virtues  of  de^'Otion, 
and  patriotism,  and  kindness — death  called  him. 

"Born  in  V^irginia,  and  going  in  his  early  manhood  to  Europe, 
as  Secretary  of  Legation,  he  there  perfected  himself  in  riding, 
fencing,  and  all  manly  exercises :  studying  political  science,  and 
training  himself,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  for  the  arena 
upon  which  he  was  to  enter  soon  after  his  return.  He  came  to 
Virginia  at  a  time  when  the  atmosphere  was  stifling  with  the 
heat  of  contending  factions  in  politics,  and  becoming  the  chief 
editor  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer,  plunged  into  the  struggle  with 
all  the  ardour  of  a  young  and  ambitious  soldier  who  essays  to 
test  the  use  of  those  arms  he  has  been  long  burnishing  for  battle. 
He  did  not  lack  for  opponents,  for  a  great  contest  was  raging, 
and  the  minds  of  men  were  red-hot  with  the  mighty  issues  of 
the  time.  He  had  scarce  thrown  down  the  glove  when  many 
hands  were  extended  to  take  it  up.  Then  commenced  a  strife 
on  the  political  arena,  in  which  the  opponents  fought  each  other 
with  bitter  and   passionate  vehemence.      \MTat  the   pen   wrote, 


206  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

the  pistol,  unhappily,  was  too  often  called  upon  to  support;  and 
the  young  politician  was  ere  long  engaged  in  more  than  one 
duel,  which  achieved  for  him  a  widely-extended  notoriety  and  a 
venomous  party  hatred.  Of  these  quarrels  I  do  not  design  to 
speak.  It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  inquire  who  was  to  blame 
or  who  was  faultless ;  and  I  would  not  move  the  ashes  resting 
now  upon  the  details  of  those  unhappy  affairs,  under  which  the 
fire  perhaps  still  smoulders,  full  of  old  enmities.  That  he  was 
carried  away  by  passion  often,  is  unfortunately  too  true;  but 
he  had  no  love  for  conflict,  and  publicly  declared  his  aversion 
to  'private  war.'  Unhappily  the  minds  of  his  political  opponents 
were  too  profoundly  swayed  by  the  passions  of  the  epoch  to 
give  him  credit  for  these  declarations.  They  were  not  listened 
to,  and  the  young  politician  became  the  mark  of  extreme  political 
hatred.  The  sins  of  passion  and  the  heated  arena  were  re- 
garded as  the  coolly  planned  and  deliberately  designed  crimes 
of  a  moral  monster,  who  had  never  felt  the  emotion  of  pity  or 
love  for  his  brother  man.  Intelligent  and  honourable  persons 
believed  that  all  the  young  man's  instincts  were  cruel ;  that  his 
hatreds  were  capricious  and  implacable ;  that  his  nature  was 
that  of  the  tiger,  thirsting  for  blood;  his  conscience  paralyzed 
or  warped  by  a  terrible  moral  disease.  His  splendid  oratory, 
his  trenchant  pen,  the  dash  and  courage  of  his  nature,  were 
allowed;  but  these  were  his  only  'good  gifts';  he  was,  they 
said,  the  Ishmael  of  the  modern  world. 

"All  this  he  knew,  and  he  continued  his  career,  trusting  to 
time.  He  fought  for  secession;  joined  the  First  Virginia  Regi- 
ment, and  served  at  Charles  Town,  in  the  John  Brown  raid.  Then 
war  came  in  due  time.  He  was  elected  captain  of  the  Blues — 
the  oldest  volunteer  company  in  \'irginia — took  the  leadership 
from  the  first,  as  one  born  to  command,  and  fought  and  fell 
at  that  bloody  Roanoke  fight,  at  the  head  of  his  company,  and 
cheering  on  his  men. 

"His  body  was  brought  back  to  Richmond,  laid  in  the 
Capitol,  and  buried,  in  presence  of  a  great  concourse  of 
mourners,  in  Hollywood  Cemetery.  That  was  the  end  of  the 
brief  young  life — death  in  defense  of  his  native  land,  and  a 
grave  in  the  beloved  soil,  by  the  side  of  the  great  river,  and 
the  ashes  of  Monroe,  brought  thither  by  himself  and  his  asso- 
ciates. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         207 

"Then  came  a  re\-ulsion.  His  character  was  better  under- 
stood ;  his  faidts  were  forgotten ;  his  virtues  recognized.  Even 
his  old  opponents  hastened  to  express  their  sympathy  and  ad- 
miration. It  was  remembered  that  more  than  once  he  had 
refused  to  return  his  adversary's  fire ;  that  championship  of  one 
whom  he  loved  more  than  life  had  inflamed  his  enmity — no 
merely  selfish  considerations.  His  sweetness  of  temper  and  kind- 
ness were  recalled  by  many,  and  the  eyes  which  had  been  bent 
upon  him  with  horror  or  hatred,  shed  tears  beside  the  young 
soldier's  grave. 

"Oh,  tardy  justice  of  good  men !  Oh,  laurel-wreath  upon 
the  coffin — soft  words  spoken  in  the  dull,  cold  ear  of  death ! 
This  soul  of  chivalry  and  honour — this  gentle,  kindly,  simple 
heart — had  been  branded  as  the  enemy  of  his  species — as  a 
haughty,  soulless,  pitiless  monster! 

"In  speaking  of  this  young  Virginian.  I  wish  to  espouse  no 
personal  or  party  quarrel — to  arouse  none  of  those  enmities 
which  sleep  now — to  open  no  old  wounds,  and  to  fan  into  flame 
none  of  the  heart-burnings  of  the  past.  Those  who  contended 
with  him  most  bitterly  have  long  ago  forgotten  their  feud. 
]\Iany  shed  tears  for  the  noble  youth  when  he  fell,  and  speak 
of  him  now  as  one  of  those  great  Virginians  whom  it  is  the 
pride  of  our  soil  to  have  produced.  They  know  him  better  now. 
and  understand  that  this  man  was  no  hater  of  his  species — no 
Ishmael  of  civilization,  cold  and  haughty  and  implacable — but  a 
beautiful  and  noble  nature,  attuned  to  every  honourable  impulse, 
and  only  embittered  temporarily  by  party  passion.  Dying,  he 
has  suffered  change ;  and  there  is  a  beauty  in  the  pale,  cold 
face,  which  it  never  possessed  while  living.  Traits  never  sus- 
pected come  out  now.  when  Death  has  stamped  the  countenance 
with  his  melancholy  seal ;  and  love  and  pity  have  quite  banished 
the  old  scorn  and  hatred.  The  green  grass  on  his  grave  has 
covered  all  enmity,  and  the  love  of  friends  has  taken  the  place 
of  the  bitterness  of  foes. 

"Among  those  friends  who  knew  and  loved  him  living.  I 
count  myself.  To  know  him  thus  was  speedily  to  love  him^ — 
for  his  traits  and  instincts  were  so  conspicuously  noble  and  en- 
dearing. •  that  he  irresistibly  attracted  the  aft'ection  of  all  who 
were  thrown  in  familiar  contact  with  him.  How  gentle,  modest, 
and  unassuming  these  inner  instincts  of  his  heart  were,  those 
who  knew  him  in  his  private  life  will  bear  witness.     They  will 


208  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

tell  yon  of  his  honest  and  trnthfnl  natnre ;  his  nnpretending 
simplicity ;  his  chivalric  imjnilses,  and  nobility  of  feeling. 
Indeed,  you  would  have  said  that  the  Creator  had  breathed  into 
this  clay  the  loveliest  traits  of  humanity,  and  raised  up  in  the 
prosaic  nineteenth  century  a  'good  knight'  of  old  days,  to  show 
the  lo\"eliness  of  honour. 

"This  was  one  side  of  the  young  man's  character,  only.  With 
these  softer  traits  were  mingled  some  of  the  hardiest  endow- 
ments of  strong  manhood.  No  man  was  ever  braver.  Indeed, 
his  nerve  had  in  it  something  antique  and  splendid,  as  of  the 
elder  days  of  chivalry,  when  neither  monster  nor  magician, 
giant  nor  winged  dragon,  could  make  the  heart  of  the  good 
knight  cjuail,  or  move  him  from  his  steadfast  purpose.  What  in 
other  men  was  the  courage  of  habit,  or  training,  or  calculation 
of  forces,  was  in  him  that  of  native  endowment  and  birthright. 
To  match  himself,  if  need  be.  against  any  odds,  however  over- 
whelming, and  breast  all  opposition  with  a  stubborn,  dauntless 
front,  was  to  act  as  his  character  dictated,  and  to  follow  his 
temperament.  The  sentiment  of  fear,  I  believe,  never  entered 
his  breast;  if  it  did,  it  never  stayed  there  long  enough  for  him  to 
make  its  accjuaintance.  He  would  have  led  the  charge  of  the 
English  cavahy  at  Balaklava  with  the  nerve  and  dash  of  Hot- 
spur, glorying  in  the  roar  of  the  enemy's  artillery,  and  resolute 
to  take  their  guns  or  die.  At  Thermopylae,  he  would  have  stood 
beside  Leonidas,  and  fought  and  died  without  the  shudder  of  a 
nerve.  In  battle  at  the  head  of  his  men,  his  coolness  and  reso- 
lution were  invincible.  The  grim  front  of  war  possessed  no 
terrors  for  him.  and  he  advanced  into  the  gulf  of  battle  with  the 
calmness  of  a  holiday  soldier  on  parade. 

"He  was  early  in  the  lists  as  the  advocate  of  resistance  to  the 
North,  and  fought  its  opponents  with  persistent  vehemence.  To 
'wait'  was  to  sign  the  death-warrant  of  the  State,  he  declared. 
'God  save  the  liberties  of  this  brave  old  Commonwealth!"  if  this 
was  the  course  defined  for  her.  What  he  preached  he  practiced. 
He  sounded  the  onset,  and,  the  lines  once  in  motion,  he  took  his 
place  in  the  great  army.  At  first  as  a  private,  with  musket  on 
shoulder;  eager,  active,  untiring;  inspiring  all  with  his  own 
l)rave  spirit.  Then,  when  his  acknowledged  capacity  for  leader- 
sliip  placed  him  at  the  head  of  a  command,  he  took  the  post  as 
his  of  right,  and  led  his  men  as  all  who  knew  him  expected. 
How  he  led  them  on  that  disastrous  dav  at  Roanoke — with  what 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         209 

heroic  nerve,  and  splendid  gallantry,  in  the  face  of  the  deadliest 
fire — let  his  old  comrades  in  arms  declare.  There,  in  the  front 
of  battle,  he  fell — giving  his  life  without  a  single  regret  to  the 
cause  he  loved. 

"It  was  the  phase  of  character,  indicated  above,  which  the 
outer  world  chiefly  considered,  and  estimated  him  by.  Yet  this 
was  by  no  means  his  most  attractive  phase.  The  dauntless 
nerve,  the  stubborn  and  indomitable  will,  revealed  themselves  on 
certain  occasions  only — the  social  virtues  of  the  individual  were 
seen  every  day.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  human  being- 
more  modest,  kindly,  and  simple.  His  modesty  amounted  almost 
to  shyness ;  and  it  was  doubtless  this  species  of  reserve  which 
led  many  to  regard  him  as  cold,  and  destitute  of  feeling.  Let  it 
not  be  understood,  however,  that  he  was  subject  to  niaiivaise 
hontc — the  diffidence  of  one  who  distrusts  his  own  powers,  and 
shrinks  from  collision  with  other  minds.  His  peculiarity  was 
rather  the  reverse,  as  his  perfect  self-possession  and  control  of 
every  faculty  in  public  speaking  indicated.  Self-reliance,  rather 
than  self-distrust,  marked  the  character  of  his  intellect — bold- 
ness to  undertake,  and  unshrinking  courage  to  execute.  But  in 
this  there  was  no  arrogance — no  hauteur.  In  the  combat  he 
would  contend  with  all  his  powers,  and  shrink  from  no  odds ; 
but  the  contest  once  over,  the  hot  blood  cool,  the  old  modestv 
returned,  and  the  kindly,  gentle  smile.  The  indulgence  of  his 
affections  was  evidently  one  of  his  chief  happinesses.  He  was 
fond  of  children,  and  delighted  to  play  with  them,  sharing  their 
gambols  and  amusements  with  the  bonhomie  and  abandon  of  a 
boy.  In  such  scenes,  the  vehement  young  politician  no  doubt 
took  refuge  from  the  strife  of  the  public  afena,  where  so  many 
hot  passions  met  and  clashed,  and  found  in  the  playful  antics  of 
children  the  antidote  to  the  scorns  and  hatreds  of  those  grown- 
up children — men.  It  was  in  the  society  of  the  eminent  Vir- 
ginian, his  father,  however,  that  he  seemed  to  experience  his 
greatest  happiness ;  and  his  devotion  to  him  was  the  controlling- 
sentiment  of  his  being.  If  this  sentiment  impelled  him  to  a 
partisanship  too  violent  at  times,  the  fault  will  not  be  regarded 
as  a  mean  or  ignoble  one,  nor  detract  in  any  measure  from  the 
character  here  attributed  to  him,  of  the  kindest  and  simplest  of 
gentlemen. 

"The  intellect  wliich  accompanied  this  courageous  spirit  and 
kindly  heart  was  eminently  vigorous  and  original.     It  was  rather 


210 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


that  of  the  actor  than  the  thinker ;  rather  ready,  acute,  in- 
\entive,  and  fruitful  in  resources — quick  to  move  and  to  strike, 
in  debate  or  reasoning"  with  the  pen — than  dehberate,  i)hiloso})hic, 
or  reflective.  It  wanted  the  l^readth  and  depth  which  result 
from  study  and  meditation,  but  as  a  sharp  and  tempered  weapon 
to  accomplish  direct,  tangible  results  it  was  exceedingly  forcible 


CAPT.    OBIDIAH   JENNINGS   WISE 
Pinxit  Chniniuni 


and  effecti\e.  As  a  writer  in  the  larger  acceptation  of  the 
term,  he  was  not  conspicuously  endowed;  but  his  style  as  a 
journalist  was  fluent,  eloquent,  and,  when  his  nature  was 
strongly  moved,  full  of  power  and  the  fire  of  invective.  Some 
of  his  editorial  writings  deserve  to  be  collected,  and  preserved 
in  a  permanent  form,  as  among  the  most  forcible  exposition  of 
the  great  principles  invoh-ed  in  the  struggle  which  absorbed 
the  energies  of  the  South. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         211 

"His  most  notable  gift  was  unquestionably  that  of  oratory. 
He  possessed  native  endowments  which  entitled  him  to  very 
high  rank  as  a  public  speaker.  In  the  columns  of  a  daily 
journal  his  powers  were  always  more  or  less  cramped,  and  did 
not  assert  their  full  strength,  but  on  'the  stump'  he  was  in  his 
own  element.  Here  all  the  faculties  of  his  intellect  and  nature 
had  full  swing,  and  'ample  room  and  verge  enough'  for  their 
exercise.  The  spectator  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  young  man, 
with  the  thin  slight  figure  and  quiet  manner,  was  a  born  orator. 
His  first  words  justified  the  opinion,  and  stamped  him  as  one 
born  to  move,  to  sway,  to  direct  the  thoughts  and  the  actions 
of  men.  The  crowd — that  unfailing  critic  of  a  public  speaker's 
ability — always  received  him  with  acclamations,  and  hailed  his 
appearance  on  the  rostrum  with  loud  applause.  They  felt  that, 
youth  as  he  was,  and  as  yet  untrained  in  the  arts  of  the  orator, 
he  was  a  match  for  the  oldest  opponents,  and  they  were  content 
to  leave  the  advocacy  of  great  principles,  at  momentous  crises, 
in  the  hands  of  this  young  man — to  accept  and  rely  on  him  as 
their  champion. 

"He  did  not  disappoint  their  expectations  ever.  A  born 
politician,  and  thrilling  \vith  the  great  party  issues  before  the 
country,  he  entered  the  arena  with  the  bold  and  self-possessed 
demeanour  of  one  in  his  chosen  element,  and  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion. Political  history — the  careers  of  public  men- — the  prin- 
ciples underlying  the  American  frame  of  government — all  were 
thoroughly  familiar  to  him,  and  his  knowledge  was  available  at 
a  moment's  notice.  His  speeches  were  skillful  combinations  of 
philosophic  reasoning  and  hard-hitting  illustrations.  In  the  em- 
ployment of  invective,  his  handling  w^as  that  of  a  master ;  and 
when  his  scorn  of  some  unworthy  action  or  character  was  fully 
aroused,  his  delivery  of  the  scathing  sarcasm  or  the  passionate 
defiance  was  inexpressibly  vehement  and  bitter.  Those  who 
have  seen  the  flashing  eye  and  the  scornful  lip  of  the  young 
orator  at  such  times  will  not  readily  forget  them,  or  wonder 
at  the  wild  excitement  of  the  crowd  as  they  listened  to  these 
outbursts.  Even  the  cool  intellects  of  the  old  men  were  taken 
captive  with  the  rest,  and  I  think  all  who  heard  the  youthful 
speaker  came  away  with  the  impression  that  time  and  training- 
only  were  needed  to  make  him  one  of  the  most  famous  orators 
of  the  old  Commonwealth  which  has  produced  so  many  giants. 


212  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

"\\  ith  the  termination  of  his  speeches  disappeared  all  the 
passion,  vehemence,  and  ardour  of  the  man.  The  handkerchief 
passed  over  the  damp  brow  seemed  to  wipe  away  all  excitement ; 
and  the  fiery  gladiator,  swaying  all  minds  by  his  fierce  invective, 
or  his  vivid  reasoning,  subsided  into  the  quiet,  almost  shy,  young 
man.  The  old  modesty  and  simplicity  of  demeanour  returned, 
and  the  forces  of  the  vigorous  intellect  returned  to  rest,  until 
some  other  occasion  should  call  them  into  exercise. 

"I  could  add  many  things  relating  to  this  eminent  voung  man 
in  his  personal  and  private  character,  but  the  subject  may  not 
interest  the  general  reader  as  much  as  it  does  him  who  writes. 
Perhaps,  too,  they  are  better  kept  for  other  years,  when  time 
shall  have  extinguished  the  few  heart-burnings  that  remain,  and 
obliterated  the  scars  of  old  contests.  I  have  thought  it  right, 
however,  to  put  this  much  concerning  him  on  record,  without 
shaping  my  discourse  to  please  either  friend  or  foe.  Foes,  I 
believe,  he  has  no  longer.  Even  those  who  most  bitterly  opposed 
him  while  living,  now  acknowledge  his  great  qualities,  and 
lament  his  untimely  end. 

'Tf  enmity  exist  toward  him  in  any  heart,  however,  no  answer- 
ing defiance  comes  back.  The  weapon  of  the  good  knight  will 
never  more  be  drawn — he  has  fought  his  last  battle  and  yielded 
up  his  soul.  He  sleeps  now  quietly,  after  all  the  turmoils  of 
life — after  heart-burnings  and  triumphs,  and  loves  and  hatreds 
— sleeps  in  the  bosom  of  the  land  he  loved,  and  toiled,  and 
thought,  and  fought,  and  died  for.  His  is  not  the  least  worthy 
heart  which  has  poured  out  its  blood  for  Virginia  and  the 
South  :  and  in  the  pages  of  our  annals,  among  the  names  of  our 
dead  heroes  who  surrendered  youth,  and  coming  fame,  and 
friends,  and  home,  and  life  for  their  native  land — surrendered 
them  without  a  murmur  or  a  single  regret — among  these  great 
souls  the  Genius  of  Historv  must  inscribe  the  name  of  Jennings 
Wise." 

This  beautiful  tribute  to  Capt.  Obidiah  Jennings  Wise,  the 
half-uncle  of  the  compiler  of  this  record,  is  well  worthy  of 
preservation  in  the  family  annals.  "Obie,"  as  he  was  called  in 
his  family,  and  O'Jennings,  as  he  was  known  to  his  friends, 
was  truly  a  romantic  character,  and,  it  is  believed,  was  the 
favorite  among  his  brothers  and  sisters,  all  of  whom  idolized 
him. 


HIS  AXCESTORS  AND  DESCEXDANTS         213 

I  should  here  recount  two  very  unusual  coincidences. 

In  1904  a  gentleman  named  Garrett  was  visiting  relatives  of 
mv  wife  in  Montclair.  X.  J.  He  told  them  that  his  mother  had 
purchased  from  a  Union  veteran  in  Massachusetts  the  past 
summer  a  telescopic  field  glass,  which  the  old  soldier  claimed 
to  have  picked  up  on  the  battlefield  of  Roanoke  Island,  and 
which  he  said  fell  from  the  person  of  a  Confederate  officer.  On 
the  glass  was  inscribed  the  name  Capt.  O.  Jennings  ^^'ise.  His 
mother  purchased  it  with  the  hope  of  locating  the  owner.  Mr. 
Garrett  was  told  by  Miss  Mitchell  that  her  cousin  had  just 
announced  her  engagement  to  Jennings  C.  \\"ise.  of  Virginia, 
and  that,  perhaps,  he  might  aid  in  restoring  the  relic  to  Captain 
A\'ise.  Mr.  Garrett  entered  into  correspondence  with  me  and 
presented  me  with  the  field  glass  of  m}-  uncle  whose  name  I  bear. 

The  other  incident  is  equally  interesting.  I  was  showing  some 
ladies,  who  were  calling  on  my  wife  at  our  home  in  1916,  a 
very  peculiar  Sevres  pipe  bowd  bearing  the  names  Bailie  Peyton 
and  O.  Jennings  Wise,  and  a  very  highly  colored  American 
eagle  and  shield,  which  Louis  Xapoleon  had  given  them.  It 
seems  that  while  they  were  in  the  French  Legation  as  attaches 
of  Mr.  Mason,  the  American  Ambassador,  the  Emperor,  who 
was  verv  fond  of  Mr.  ]\Iason,  took  him  and  a  party  of  the 
voung  men  in  his  suit  to  the  famous  porcelain  works  at  Sevres, 
and  presented  each  member  of  the  party  with  a  souvenir  of  their 
^•isit.  While  I  was  thus  explaining  the  origin  of  the  pipe,  I  was 
handed  the  following  letter : 

"1704  \\'alnut  Street. 

"Philadelphia,  Pa., 

"Feb.   16,  1916. 
"Jennings  C.  \\'ise,  Esq. 

"Dear  Sir  : 

"I  am  reading  your  book  with  pleasure  and  profit.  Your  name 
recalls  a  man  of  the  same  name  who  was  m}-  fellow-student  in 
Heidelberg  and  Paris  in  1856,  sixty  years  ago.  I  am  under 
the  impression  that  he  fell  in  the  C.  S.  A.  in  \'a.,  and  that  he 
was  a  son  of  Gov.  ^^'ise.  who  was  very  kind  to  me  at  Harper's 


214  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Ferry,  ^vhere  I  was  taken  prisoner  (having  left  a  Pa.  R.  R. 
train)  at  the  time  of  John  Brown's  Raid  in  1859.  He  released 
me  and  sent  me  home. 

"Among  the  other  Southerners,  my  fellow-students,  there  was 
Bailie  Peyton  of  Kentucky,  who  fell  in  an  engagement  with 
Northern  forces  of  which  my  younger  brother,  Maj.  Adolph  G. 
Rosengarten,  was  a  member,  and  later,  on  Dec.  29th,  my 
brother  fell  at  Stone  River,  under  the  fire  of  a  regiment  under 
Col.  Alanigault,  who  was  also  our  fellow-student  in  those  remote 
days  before  the  war!  I  saw  lately  notice  of  the  death  of  Henry 
Hammond  in  South  Carolina  of  about  my  age — 80.  Could  he 
have  been  another  fellow-student?  You  belong,  no  doubt,  to 
an  earlier  [a  later?]  generation,  but  you  may  know  something 
of  these  men. 

"Yrs.  truly, 

"T.  G.  Rosengarten." 

Besides  the  field  glass  and  pipe  bowl,  above  referred  to,  the 
writer  is  the  owner  of  Captain  Wise's  gold  watch,  and  a  very 
ornate  and  handsome  brace  of  dueling  pistols  and  loading  tools 
in  their  original  case.  With  these  Captain  Wise  fought  several 
of  his  duels.  There  are  in  the  family  also  his  military  ink  well, 
a  pair  of  heavy  fencing  swords,  with  which  he  is  supposed  to 
ha\e  fought  one  or  more  duels  at  Heidelberg,  and  his  Con- 
federate "tactics,"  or  drill  regulations,  which  were  in  his  breast 
pocket  when  he  was  killed,  and  the  leaves  of  which  are  stained 
with  his  heart's  blood. 

There  is  an  oil  portrait  of  Capt.  O.  Jennings  Wise  in  the 
"Blues"  Armory  in  Richmond,  and  in  a  very  rare  souvenir  pam- 
phlet, published  in  1873  at  the  time  of  the  reorganization  of  the 
"Blues."  his  full-length  picture  in  the  beautiful  full-dress  uni- 
form of  the  "Blues"  appears  in  a  colored  plate.  Two  photo- 
graphs of  him,  taken  in  Paris  in  1856,  are  also  extant.  One  of 
these  was  colored  in  oil  for  the  writer  by  the  late  Conrad  Wise 
Chapman,  artist,  who  served  in  the  "Blues"  under  Captain  Wise 
in  1861-2. 

In  conclusion.  I  wish  to  record  the  circumstances  of  my  re- 
ceiving the  name  Jennings.  I  was  christened  Cropper,  after 
mv    great-great-grandfather.    Gen.    John    Cropper.      My    Uncle 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         215 

Henry  (half -uncle)  had  named  a  son  Obidiah  Jennings,  but  he 
died  when  just  of  age.  My  Aunt  Mary  (half-aunt)  had  named 
a  son  Jennings  Wise  Garnett,  who  died  in  1880.  When  I  was 
five  years  old  (1886)  there  was  no  male  member  of  the  family 
with  the  name  Jennings,  and  my  father,  who  adored  his  brother 
"Obie,"  or  Obidiah  Jennings  Wise,  came  to  me  on  the  morning 
of  my  birthday,  and  agreed  to  give  me  "anything  I  desired"  if 
I  would  bear  the  name  Jennings.  A  large  bass  drum  was  my 
instant  selection  as  a  reward  for  changing  my  name,  and  I  may 
add  that  the  household  for  many  days  regretted  the  bargain ! 

In  1887  my  Aunt  "Annie"  (Annie  Jennings  Wise  Hobson) 
named  her  youngest  grandchild,  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Cannon 
Hobson,  Jennings  Wise  Hobson,  who  is  now  Rector  of  Christ 
Church,  of  Bluefield,  W.  Va.  He  and  I  alone  bear  the  name 
of  our  uncle,  and  while  I  have  not  a  drop  of  Jennings  blood 
in  my  veins  I  cherish  my  adopted  name  by  reason  of  its  asso- 
ciation with  "Uncle  Obie,"  who,  in  my  childhood,  seemed  to  me 
to  have  been  a  near  approach  to  perfection.  There  is,  I  presume, 
in  every  family  an  ideal  of  manhood.  In  the  Wise  family 
"Uncle  Obie"  is  that  one. 

4.  The  Rev.  Henry  Alexander  \\'ise,  Jr.,  second  son  of  his. 
father,  was  born  August  22.  1834.  in  Accomack  County,  and 
died  February  10,  1869.  in  Baltimore.  He  and  his  wife  and 
their  five  children  are  buried  in  "Hollywood."  He  married, 
November  6,  1860,  Harriet  (Hallie)  Haxall,  born  September 
18,  1841.  died  August  8.  1893.  daughter  of  Barton  Haxall.  Esq., 
of  Richmond,  and  had  issue : 

1.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  died  lulv  13,  1864,  10  months 
old. 

2.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  died  August.   1864,  19  months 
old. 

3.  Barton  Haxall  Wise,  died  when  10  months  old. 

4.  Obidiah   Jennings   Wise,   born   October   4,    1861 ;    died 
February  4,  1884. 

5.  Barton    Haxall    Wise,    born    October    16.    1865;     died 
Februarv    6,    1899;     married,    Ji-ine    7,    1894.    Caroline^ 


216  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Hazlehtirst  Cohen,  born  July  7,  1872,  daughter  of  Philip 
Lawrence  Cohen  and  Ellen  G.  Wright,  of  Augusta,  Ga. 
His  widow  and  an  unmarried  daughter,  Ellen  Wright 
Wise,  born  September  2,  1896,  survive  him  and  now 
reside  in  Richmond. 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  a  sketch  of  the  Rev. 
Henry  A.  Wise,  Jr.,  which  was  published  in  the  Parish 
Messenger,  of  the  Church  of  the  Saviour,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
May,  1912: 

"He  received  his  education  at  the  Virginia  MiHtary  Institute, 
and  William  and  Mary  College,  and  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Alexandria,  Va.,  from  which  latter  he  graduated,  being  made 
a  Deacon  and  subsequently  raised  to  the  Priesthood. 

"An  estimate  of  his  standing  in  the  Seminary  is  given  by 
Bishop  Randolph  of  Virginia,  his  warm  friend  and  admirer: 
AVe  considered  him  the  most  brilliant  speaker  of  our  genera- 
tion at  the  Theological  Seminary,  and  a  man  of  great  nobility 
of  character.' 

"He  began  his  ministry  as  assistant  minister  of  St.  James' 
Church,  Richmond,  and  went  from  there  as  Rector  of  Hebron 
Church  at  Goochland,  \"a.  From  this  place  he  was  called,  in 
the  early  summer  of  1859,  to  the  Church  of  the  Saviour  (Phila- 
delphia), but,  having  little  bodily  vigor,  he  did  not  accept  the 
call  until  the  11th  of  October,  1859,  endeavoring  to  build  up 
his  health.  He  assumed  the  duties  of  Rector  on  the  first  of 
November  following.  Greatly  beloved  and  esteemed,  Mr.  Wise 
continued  in  charge  of  this  Church  until  the  unfortunate  out- 
break against  the  government  in  1861.  His  father's  conspicuous 
position  in  the  struggle  seemed  to  call  particular  attention  to 
any  of  the  name  and  Mr.  Wise  found  himself  subjected  to  much 
annoyance  from  an  excited  community,  entirely  outside  of  his 
congregation,  so  that  he  felt  compelled  to  resign  his  charge, 
which  he  did  on  the  20th  of  May,  1861,  to  the  great  regret  of 
his  devoted  people,  who,  though  deprecating  the  action  of  those 
opposing  the  government,  revered  and  respected  their  brilliant 
Rector,  desiring  him  to  remain  with  them.  He  returned  to 
Virginia  and  became  Rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Halifax 
Court  House,  remaining  there  during  the  entire  war.  [This  is 
an  error.     He  served  part  of  the  time  as  military  chaplain  in  his 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         217 

father's  brigade.]  When  peace  was  restored  he  was  called  to 
Harrisonburg,  \'a.,  and  from  there  became  Rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Baltimore.  Whilst  in  charge  of  this  church  he  died 
on  the  10th  of  February,  1869. 

"The  late  Rector  of  our  Church,  good  Dr.  Bodine,  resided  near 
Mr.  Wise  in  Baltimore,  and,  although  their  churches  in  that  city 
were  far  apart,  they  saw  much  of  each  other.  Dr.  Bodine,  writ- 
ing of  Mr.  Wise,  says :  'He  was  as  impetuous  as  he  was 
courageous,  a  born  leader  of  men.  .  .  .  As  a  talker,  how- 
ever, he  was  much  more  interesting,  than  as  a  preacher.  In  con- 
versation he  was  not  simply  brilliant;  he  was  fascinating.  The 
sermons  which  he  preached  were  stilted ;  the  familiar  talk  which 
swept  from  him  as  a  dashing  current,  danced  over  the  rocks, 
and  sparkled  in  the  sunshine.  It  was  impossible  for  Mr.  Wise 
to  be  commonplace  in  anything,  so  even  in  the  pulpit  he  was 
never  commonplace,  and  he  always  commanded  attention.  Mr. 
Wise  was  a  low  churchman  with  a  chip  on  his  shoulder  and  he 
wanted  something  outspoken,  at  any  rate,  whether  for  or  against 
his  own  views :  there  was  one  thing  which  he  could  not  for- 
give— apparent  lack  of  courage.' 

"A  lady  parishioner  who  remembers  his  ministry  here,  says 
of  him :  'He  was  all  nerves,  and  they  were  true  Southern 
nerves.  He  was  keyed  to  the  highest  pitch  and  kept  there. 
Nothing  ordinary  about  Jiiui.  A  born  aristocrat,  with  all  the 
dash,  daring,  and  courage  combined  with  the  slight,  well- 
groomed  physique  of  the  thoroughbred.  .  .  .  His  sermons 
were  of  the  brightest  rank  and  deeply  spiritual.  He  committed 
every  word  of  them  to  memory.  One  of  the  rarest  treats  was 
to  listen  to  an  apparently  extempore  sermon  that  had  all  the 
depth  of  a  carefully  prepared  written  one.  The  habit  of  depend- 
ing on  his  memory  had  its  disadvantages.  His  handkerchief 
must  be  in  a  particular  place  under  the  cushion  of  the  pulpit 
ready  for  handling.  On  one  occasion  he  dropped  it  unwittingly, 
consequently  the  sermon  closed  abruptly,  and  the  congregation 
was  dismissed.  At  the  slightest  whisper  he  paused  and  looked 
at  the  offender.'  [A  trait  so  common  and  characteristic  of  all 
the  men  of  his  blood  known  to  me  that  one  familiar  with  it  must 
smile  en  passant. — J.  C.  W.] 

"Mr.  Wise  was  a  gentleman  of  delightful  personality  and 
easily  won  the  affection  of  his  people.  He  was  not  strong, 
being  slight  of  physique  and  of  a  high-strung,  nervous  nature. 


218  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

He  was  a  preacher  of  ability,  possessed  of  a  sweet,  winsome 
disposition,  receiving  and  holding  the  affectionate  regard  of 
those  to  whom  he  ministered. 

"There  seems  to  cling  about  the  Churcli  a  most  delightful 
memory  of  this  promising,  brilliant  young  minister.  His  career 
was  certainly  saddened  and  was  possibly  shortened  by  the  dire 
events  of  the  early  Sixties.  Those  who  sat  under  his  ministry 
have  ever  been  loyal  to  him,  and  his  name,  manner,  and  admin- 
istration remain  a  blessed  memory  to  the  Church." 

Here  let  the  writer  add  a  few  facts  concerning  Henry  A. 
Wise,  Jr.  Meeting  Bishop  Potter  in  Egypt,  in  1906,  he  con- 
firmed to  the  writer  the  estimate  of  Bishop  Randolph,  and  it  is 
said  that  the  distinguished  Rev.  Randolph  McKim,  of  Wash- 
ington, who  was  also  at  the  Seminary  with  him.  has  declared 
Henry  A.  Wise  to  have  been  the  most  brilliant  young  divine  of 
his  day. 

It  seems  hard  to  believe  that  a  man  who  in  maturer  years 
possessed  so  sweet  and  noble  a  character  could  have  been  a 
violent  and  wayward  youth.  While  a  cadet  at  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute  his  record  was  not  a  good  one.  He  was 
noted  there  for  the  violence  of  his  temper,  and  was  dismissed 
for  wounding  a  fellow-cadet  with  a  bayonet,  while  engaged  in  a 
duel  with  him.  His  temper  is  said  to  have  l^een  ungovernable 
in  his  youth,  and  it  was  his  recognition  of  this  and  repentance 
for  the  injury  inflicted  by  him  upon  his  fellow-cadet,  that  sobered 
his  mind  and  led  him  to  the  service  of  Christ,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Bishop  Johns.  It  is  said  that  his  father  loved  him 
above  all  his  children,  but  that  on  occasions  when  the  son 
mastered  his  father  in  argument,  or  would  not  surrender  his 
own  views,  the  latter  would  stamp  his  foot  upon  the  ground  and 
clenching  his  hands  would  exclaim :  "Henry,  you  are  so  much 
like  me — damn  you — I  hate  you!" 

Barton  Haxall  WMse.  the  fifth  son  of  Rev.  Henry  A.  Wise, 
deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice  in  this  sketch : 

"Although  the  child  had  known  both  parents,  and  all  his 
grandparents,  he  buried  them  and  his  brother,  one  by  one,  be- 
fore he  was  a  grown  man.     To  him  there  was  beyond  question 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


219 


a  note  of  pathos  in  those  sad  hnes  of  Praed  reproduced  near  the 
end  of  his  book — the  Hfe  of  his  grandfather,  Henry  A.  Wise — 
which  his  grandfather  loved  to  repeat  in  his  last  days. 

"He  received  an  excellent  education.  When  he  was  a  small 
boy  he  was  placed  in  the  Pampatike  School,  at  the  home  of  Col. 
Thos.  H.  Carter,  one  of  the  few  establishments  which  retained 


REV.   HENRY   ALEXANDER  WISE 


the  character  of  the  olden  times,  and  he  fell  under  the  influence 
of  a  lo\ely  woman,  Mrs.  Carter,  who  stamped  upon  every  boy 
attending  the  school  the  impress  of  her  singular  refinement  and 
high  character.  He  afterward  attended  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  graduated  in  law.  and  then  devoted  several  years 
to  travel  in  Europe  and  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  lov- 
ingly ministering  to  the  wants  of  an  invalid  mother.  After  her 
death  he  made  a  brief  essay  in  the  cotton  business  in  New  York, 
but  soon  abandoned  it  for  a  residence  in  the  beloved  state  of  his 


220  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

birth,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  practice  of  the  profession  of 
law,  for  which  he  was  best  fitted.  Although  he  was  still  a  very 
young  man  he  secured  reasonable  employment,  and  grew 
steadily  and  strongly  in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens.  His 
practice  and  private  means  enabled  him  to  consummate  a  happy 
marriage  about  five  years  before  his  death,  and  for  the  first 
time  life  seemed  opening  up  to  him  .cheerfully,  with  success  and 
happiness  in  sight. 

"He  was  not  a  demonstrative  or  strong  man,  but  one  of  deep 
affection,  of  clear  perceptions,  marked  individuality,  firm  con- 
victions, integrity,  and  high  principles.  .  .  .  He  was  a  close 
analytical  student,  and  was  scrupulously  cautious  about  com- 
mitting himself  to  any  statement  of  fact  until  he  had  fully 
examined  into  it  and  was  prepared  to  establish  its  truth. 

"As  a  speaker  and  as  a  writer  he  was  lucid,  if  not  eloquent; 
and  as  a  lawyer  he  was  painstaking,  studious,  growing,  and 
watchful  to  a  marked  degree  of  the  interests  committed  to  his 
charge.  These  qualities  are  sure  to  impress  themselves  upon  the 
community  in  which  their  ^xDSsessor  lives,  and  that  they  did  so 
in  his  case  was  evidenced  by  the  general  and  deep  expressions 
of  sorrow  which  greeted  his  unexpected  death.  Those  who 
knew  him  best  were  foremost  in  attesting  his  moral  and  intel- 
lectual growth,  since  he  renewed  his  residence  in  Richmond, 
and  his  death  was  mourned  as  the  loss  of  a  high-minded, 
valuable  citizen. 

"Barton  Wise  had  a  decided  taste  for  literary  and  antiquarian 
pursuits.  These  he  indulged  by  active  participation  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Virginia  Historical  Society,  and  by  several  memoirs  which 
he  wrote,  particularly  one  on  the  life  and  services  of  his  great- 
great-grandfather,  Gen.  John  Cropper.  During  his  last  years 
he  became  more  and  more  absorbed  in  preparing  a  life  of  his 
Strand  father.  He  felt,  and  felt  keenlv,  that  the  career  of  that 
remarkable  man  had  not  been  perser\-ed  in  any  fitting  and  con- 
nective record.  After  infinite  toil  and  research,  he  produced  a 
thorough,  faithful,  and  loving  narrative,  which  will  survive. 
The  book  reveals  the  intense  interest  of  the  writer,  and  a 
])ardonable  pride  and  loyalty  to  its  subject.  But  it  is  singularly 
free  from  fulsome  praise,  and  displays  discrimination,  breadth 
of  view,  and  general  reading,  beyond  the  average  author  of  his 
day.  His  friends  knew  the  keen  anxiety  with  which  he  looked 
forward  to  the  appearance  of  his  work,  and  the  honest  pride  he 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         221 

felt,  and  joyous  expectation  which  he  indulged  at  the  prospect 
of  seeing  the  results  of  his  labors  in  print.  Then  came  the  end 
— suddenly — without  much  warning — contrary  to  his  own  ex- 
pectations and  those  of  his  family  and  friends.  The  first  proofs 
of  his  beloved  book  were  lying  upon  his  desk  at  the  moment 
when  his  earthly  work  was  ended. 

"His  death  was  without  dramatic  incident,  but  it  was  sad,  as 
always  is  the  death  of  the  young.  Sad,  too,  because,  he  was 
loving  and  beloved,  with  much  to  live  for :  and  touching  be- 
cause, while  he  was  prepared,  he  did  not  want  to  go.  The  past 
had  been  cheerless  to  him :  the  present  was  bright  and  warm 
and  hopeful ;  and  the  future  was  opening  up  to  him  fair  with 
every  promise  of  what  the  past  had  lacked.  The  mournful  task 
of  placing  the  capstone  upon  his  work  is  one  bathed  in  tears. 

"The  perusal  of  his  book  has  revealed  him  as  an  able  and 
stronger  man  than  even  his  best  friends  had  known  him  to  be. 
It  draws  one  nearer  to  him  than  ever  before,  by  the  intense 
loyalty  and  admiration  he  displays  for  our  common  ancestor, 
one  who  loved  that  ancestor  before  the  author  of  this  book  was 
born,  and  who  still  venerates  his  memory  above  that  of  all 
others. 

"The  book  itself  fittingly  embalms  the  grandfather's  memory, 
and  his  fame  will  be  henceforth  linked  with  and  preserve  the 
name  of  his  worthy  descendant  and  biographer.     ..." 

Thus  wrote  the  uncle  of  Barton  Haxall  Wise  in  the  intro- 
ductory sketch  of  the  author  of  "The  Life  of  Henry  A.  Wise 
of  Virginia." 

Obidiah  Jennings  ^Mse,  the  only  other  child  of  the  Rev.  Henry 
Alexander  Wise  to  reach  maturity,  died  in  his  twenty-third  year 
after  a  brilliant  career  at  the  Pampatike  School,  the  Virginia 
]\Iilitary  Institute,  and  the  University  of  Virginia,  where  he 
displayed  the  most  unusual  intellectual  ability.  He  was  thought 
to  be  little  less  brilliant  than  his  first  cousin,  Jennings  \\Mse 
Garnett.  whose  remarkable  career  has  been  outlined. 

After  her  husband's  death  ]\Irs.  Henry  A.  Wise  lived  in  Rich- 
mond with  her  two  sons,  and  for  several  years  conducted  a 
private  school :  their  fortunes  improved  by  the  final  acquisition 
of  the  proceeds  of  her  husband's  estate,  which  for  many  years 
was  involved  in  insurance  litigation. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
Richard  Alsop  Wise  of  the  Sixth  Generation. 


Son  of  Henry  Alexander  Wise  and 

Sarah  Sergeant,  and  His 

Descendants. 


Henry  Alexander  Wise  and  Sarah  Sergeant  had  four 
children:  Richard  Alsop  Wise,  Margaretta  Ellen  Wise  (see 
Chapter  XVII.),  John  Sergeant  Wise  (see  Chapter  XVIII.), 
and  Spencer  Wise.  The  last  with  his  mother  died  shortly  after 
his  birth  in  1850. 

Richard  Alsop  Wise,  the  eldest  son  of  this  union,  was  born  in 
Philadelphia.  Pa.,  September  2,  1843,  and  died  in  Williamsburg, 
at  his  home,  December  21,  1900.  He  was  named  Richard  Alsop 
by  his  father  in  honor  of  a  friend.  He  first  attended  a  private 
school  in  Richmond,  and  then  the  famous  University  School  in 
Charlottesville  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Gessner  Harrison.  Among 
his  classmates  at  the  latter  school  was  the  late  Senator  John 
Warwick  Daniel  of  Virginia,  who  was  his  lifelong  friend  and 
his  comrade  in  the  Army.  His  college  education  was  had  at 
William  and  Mary  College,  which  he  attended  the  two  years 
preceding  his  entrance  into  the  Army  in  April,  1861.  His 
military  record  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work.  Suffiice  it  to  say 
he  served  as  a  trooper  under  the  glorious  Stuart,  and  attained 
the  rank  of  Captain  and  Assistant  Inspector  General  before  the 
end  of  the  war.  After  the  war  he  organized  in  Williamsburg  a 
company  of  militia  known  as  the  "Wise  Light  Infantry." 

In  1867  he  entered  the  Medical  College  of  Virginia  in  Rich- 
mond and  was  graduated  there  in  1869.  That  year  he  was 
elected  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Physiology  at  William  and 
Mary  College,  and  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  In 
1878  he  was  appointed  assistant  physician  to  the  Eastern 
Lunatic  Asylum  of  Virginia  (Williamsburg),  and  in  1872  was 
elected  superintendent  of  that  institution,  serving  as  such  until 
the  spring  of  1884.  He  was  then  elected  to  the  Virginia  House 
of  Delegates  in  which  he  remained  until  1887,  when  he  was 
elected  Clerk  of  the  courts  of  the  City  of  Williamsburg  and 
the  County  of  James  City,  in  which  offices  he  remained  six 
years,  administering  the  same  with  marked  distinction  and 
ability. 

He  was  for  a  number  of  years  chairman  of  the  Republican 
county  committee  of  James  City  County,  and  after  the  bitterest 


15 


226  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

campaigns  was  elected  and  seated  in  the  fifty-fifth  and  fifty- 
sixth  congresses.  That  he  was  a  man  of  unusual  energy  and 
force  of  character  is  fully  shown  Ijy  the  recital  of  the  various 
positions  he  filled  with  great  credit  to  himself,  and  satisfaction 
to  his  community.  The  distressing  contests  he  was  compelled 
to  conduct  before  Congress  in  order  to  secure  the  seat  he  was 
rightfully  entitled  to.  upon  both  occasions,  contributed  greatly 
to  the  disease  of  which  he  died — Bright's  disease. 

In  spite  of  the  most  intense  political  antagonism  which  he 
encountered,  no  man  ever  justly  impugned  his  character  and 
integrity. 

At  his  death  the  following  tribute  appeared  in  the  press : 

"In  Memoriam. 

"The  feeling  of  the  deepest  sorrow  fills  this  entire  com- 
munity on  account  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Richard  A.  Wise,  which 
occurred  about  10  o'clock  yesterday  morning,  for  they  feel  the 
loss  of  a  good  and  skillful  physician,  who  was  ready  at  all  times 
to  respond  to  the  calls  of  sufi^ering  humanity ;  and  those  who 
feel  most  heavily  the  loss  of  a  kind  friend  and  benefactor  are 
the  poorer  class  of  the  people.  This  day  have  been  heard  on  the 
streets  and  out  in  the  county  many  heart-felt  expressions  of 
sorrow^  from  the  lips  of  white  and  colored:  'What  is  to  become 
of  us,  now  that  Dr.  Wise  is  gone?'  Many  families  can  be  men- 
tioned— white  families,  not  to  speak  of  the  colored  people — upon 
whom  Dr.  Wise  has  been  practicing  for  years  without  hope  or 
expectation  of  remuneration.  The  devotion  of  the  needy  class 
to  Dr.  Wise  was  phenomenal.  Day  and  night,  it  is  known  to 
the  writer  of  this  poor  tribute,  Dr.  Wise  would  travel  many 
miles  to  visit  the  sick,  nurse  them  tenderly  and  carefully,  when 
he  well  knew  there  was  not  the  slightest  prospect  of  any  medical 
fees. 

"The  author  of  this  notice  differed  in  politics  from  Air.  Wise 
— one  a  lifelong  Democrat,  the  other  a  Republican — yet  we 
know  that  there  are  white  Democrats  in  this  part  of  the  peninsula 
who  never  failed  to  vote  for  Dr.  Wise  whenever  he  was  a  candi- 
date for  office.  But  these  men  would  never  vote  for  any  other 
Re]uiblican.  Their  gratitude  to  the  good  physician  and  their 
generous  friend  always  overcame  their  party  loyalty. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         227 

"Dr.  Wise  has  proven  a  working  and  useful  member  of 
Congress,  and  it  can  not  be  denied  that  he  has  secured  at  Wash- 
ington large  appropriations  for  this  Congressional  District. 

"Though  regarded  as  a  bitter  partisan  by  the  Democrats,  it 
is  well  known  that  he  has  secured  during  his  career  in  Congress 
many  appointments  for  Democrats.  One  of  his  last  public  acts 
was  to  appoint  as  principal  and  alternate  to  the  Naval  Academy, 
at  Annapolis,  the  sons  of  unwavering  Democrats. 

"Mr.  Wise  had  his  peculiarities  (and  who  has  them  not?), 
but  he  possessed  a  kind  heart  and  generous  disposition  to  those 
who  knew  him  intimately  and  understood  him  well. 

"A  lifelong  Democrat,  who  has  never  voted  any  other  than 
a  Democratic  ticket  (save  once,  and  that  for  Horace  Greeley), 
who  has  known  Dr.  Wise  for  more  than  forty  years — always 
differing  with  him  politically — feels  deeply  distressed  at  his 
untimely  death,  and  will  place  flowers  upon  his  grave,  with 
'Peace  to  his  ashes.' — Democrat,  Williamsburg,  Va..  December 
22,  1900." 

In  an  address  in  the  Senate  on  Dr.  Wise,  Senator  Daniel  said, 
in  referring  to  the  above  tribute :  "To  have  had  a  truthful 
friend  to  say  that  of  him  is  worth  more  than  any  costly  monu- 
ment that  could  be  built  above  his  dust  or  any  word  of  praise 
that  could  be  spoken." 

And  of  him  Mr.  Linney.  of  North  Carolina,  wrote:  "A 
truer,  braver  heart  I  never  saw.  I  wish  we  had  everything  in 
his  life,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  put  upon  record.  It 
would  constitute  a  book  out  of  which  the  greatest  \"irginian. 
the  greatest  North  Carolinian,  the  greatest  American  could  draw 
lessons  of  -wisdom  and  exalted  patriotism  that  would  enlarge 
his  soul,  make  his  life  better,  and  probably  increase  his  prospects 
for  the  joy  of  the  eternal  beyond." 

The  foregoing  extracts  are  but  samples  of  the  tributes  paid 
Dr.  Wise  by  his  associates  in  Congress  at  his  death.  Democrats 
and  Republicans,  Northerners  and  Southerners,  all  united  in  do- 
ing honor  to  their  rugged,  blunt,  courageous,  gentle,  delicate, 
able,  high-minded,  unselfish  friend — a  veritable  Roman  in  his 
dav.  One  who  desires  a  fuller  sketch  of  this  unusual  man  must 
prepare  himself  by  reading  the  eight  memorial  addresses  on  his 
life  and  character  published  by  the  Fifty-Sixth  Congress,  and 


228  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

then  visit  Williamsburg — the  seat  of  the  oldest  section  of 
English-America — where  he  lived  and  died,  and  where  his 
memory  is  still  fresh  among  all  classes  of  his  people. 

One  more  incident  should  be  recounted.  Dr.  Wise  was  a 
brilliant  physician.  Men  of  great  reputation  in  the  medical 
world  were  often  astonished  by  the  breadth  of  his  professional 
knowledge,  which  was  of  the  highest  scientific  order.  In 
another  sphere  of  life  he  would  have  attained  national  fame  as 
a  medical  man.  So  well  informed  was  he  as  to  his  own  ailment 
that  he  bade  his  friends  in  Congress  farewell  and  hastened  home 
to  be  with  his  children  for  what  he  knew  was  his  last  Christmas 
gathering.  While  engaged  in  making  Christmas  trifles  in  com- 
panv  with  his  sister-in-law's  family,  he  rose  and,  himself  sum- 
moning his  daughter  and  son,  hastened  to  his  bed  to  die.  As 
death  stole  upon  him  he  urged  his  physician-son  to  listen  atten- 
tively to  him  as  he  described  his  sensations.  "Now  my  vision 
is  becoming  clouded — it  is  now  gone — I  feel  a  growing  difficulty 
in  expressing — my — thoughts — in  thinking — God  bless  you.  my 
children — and — Johnnie — God " 

These  were  his  last  articulate  words.  So  died  the  father  with 
the  hand  of  that  brilliant  young  physician — his  son  Henry — 
upon  his  pulse,  and  his  attentive  professional  ear,  undulled  by 
the  throbbing  of  his  own  devoted  heart,  pressed  close  to  that 
of  his  father. 

It  was  a  scene  never  to  be  forgotten — an  incident  worthy  of 
notice  among  professional  men  of  medicine,  but  how  much  more 
so  among  those  who  must  one  day  face  their  ]\Iaker ! 

Dramatic,  pathetic,  worthy  of  the  great  man  who  brought 
him  into  the  world — yes- — all  this,  and  more.  It  is  proof  that 
Richard  Alsop  \\'ise,  with  all  his  humor,  weaknesses,  and  faults, 
was  at  peace  with  the  earthly  father  for  whom  his  love  and 
devotion  was  the  passion  of  his  life,  and  with  his  spiritual 
Father  as  well.  Only  good  men  can  face  the  spiritual  Parent  in 
the  way  he  did.  His  sublime  courage  in  death  was  evidence  of 
a  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  far  more  conclusive  than  the  mere  pro- 
fessions that  most  men  make — which  as  far  as  the  writer  knows 
Jic  was  never  noted  for  making. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


229 


Richard  Alsop  Wise  married  Maria  Dangerfield  Peachy, 
December  14,  1870.  "Mittie"  Peachy,  as  she  was  known,  was 
the  daughter  of  William  S.  Peachy  and  Virginia  Bland,  both 
of  whose  lineage  is  too  well  established  to  require  mention  here. 
The  issue  of  this  union  was:  Dr.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  Vir- 
ginia Peachy  Wise,  and  Richard  Alsop  \\^ise.  Jr. 


HON.    RICHARD    ALSOP    WISE 


Dr.  Alexander  Wise  was  born  at  the  President's  house,  of 
A\"illiam  and  Mary  College,  December  20,  1873,  and  died,  un- 
married, at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  Richmond,  Ya.,  May  5,  1904. 
He  was  a  worthy  son  of  his  father  in  every  way,  and  about  his 
brief  life  is  a  note  of  pathos  which  still  lingers  with  all  who 
knew  him. 

As  a  child  he  was  a  marker  in  the  "Wise  Light  Infantry,"  a 
military  company  which  his  father  organized  and  commanded. 


230  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

and  accompanied  the  command  to  the  Yorktown  Celebration  of 
1881.  He  became  lame  from  the  long  marches,  and  hip  joint 
disease  set  in  which  caused  the  shortening  of  the  injured  limb. 
But  even  with  this  affliction,  he  was  a  most  active  man.  Six 
feet  or  more  tall,  full  of  nervous  energy,  there  were  few  that 
could  travel  without  fatigue  beside  his  long,  tireless,  swinging 
pace,  and  few  who  could  stand  the  hardships  of  river,  field,  and 
forest  with  more  ease  and  zest  than  this  renowned  sportsman, 
who  was  the  idol  of  his  family  and  associates,  and  who  was 
known  to  his  intimates  as  "Cripple  Dick"  Wise — a  name  that 
distinguished  him  among  his  many  cousins  from  the  innumerable 
other  Henry  Wises  of  his  generation.  Physically  he  was  a 
powerful  man,  though  not  robust  in  health. 

In  him  there  were  traits  of  the  Indian  upon  whose  soil  he  was 
reared.  His  physical  courage,  his  cunning  in  woodcraft,  his 
dexterity  with  paddle,  sail,  and  gun,  his  unerring  and  intuitive 
knowledge  of  the  woods,  and  swamps,  and  streams  of  the 
historic  peninsula  lying  between  the  James  and  York  rivers, 
where  the  Chickahominy  and  the  Pamunkey  offered  him  oppor- 
tunities to  indulge  his  bent — all  these  were  characteristics  notable 
in  this  man,  whose  moral  courage  and  stamina  were  as  great  as 
his  physical  powers. 

The  best  evidence  of  his  true  character  may  be  found  in  the 
devotion  of  a  host  of  cousins  who  invariably  regarded  him  as 
their  special  favorite,  and  who,  when  separated  from  him,  longed 
for  the  delights  of  his  companionship.  How  well  they  all  recall 
the  visits  to  \\'illiamsburg  as  occasions  on  which  they  might 
indulge  to  the  fullest  an  inherited  love  of  sport  in  all  its  forms 
in  company  with  "Uncle  Dick"  and  Henry.  The  writer  can  see 
now  the  lame  young  doctor,  harnessing  his  fleet-footed  horse 
to  the  physician's  "buggy,"  and  slipping  the  well-worn  medical 
valise  and  shotgun  case  beneath  the  seat,  while  innumerable 
setters  and  pointers  bound  about  the  yard,  ready  for  a  pro- 
fessional call  upon  some  distant  patient ! 

Many  a  twenty-mile  drive  brought  no  other  fee  than  a  string 
of  birds,  a  turkey,  or  a  deer,  that  fell  to  the  unerring  instrument 
which  this  doctor  was  wont  to  carry  in  his  kit!  Or  perhaps 
the  fee  was  paid  in  oysters,  clams,  terrapin,  or  James  River  shad 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         231 

— perhaps  in  sora  or  big-mouthed  bass.  Money  was  not  the  hist 
of  Henry  Wise's  Hfe,  and  so  he  died  poor  as  the  world  figures 
weahh,  but  rich — a  veritable  prince  of  wealth — in  the  love  and 
memory  of  those  who  knew  him. 

His  was  a  love  of  nature  that  knew  no  bounds.  At  dawn  as 
he  crouched  in  the  misty  woods  and  called  to  the  wily  gobbler, 
at  eventide  as  he  crept  through  the  swamps  upon  the  browsing 
deer,  or  paddled  swiftly  and  noislessly  along  some  mysterious 
stream,  his  soul  communed  with  nature ;  his  associates  from 
tenderest  youth  were  those  ancient  denizens  who  threaded  his 
beloved  haunts  when  Powhatan  and  Pocahontas  claimed  them 
as  their  own.  His  keen  blue  eyes  and  sun-tanned  cheeks  seemed 
to  add  to  the  unusual  character,  which  every  feature  of  his  face 
portrayed — a  face  strong,  manly,  familiar  to  his  kin,  though  not 
handsome. 

It  was  perhaps  his  long  and  joyous  association  with  nature 
that  so  highly  developed  in  him  his  most  striking  characteristic 
— utter  contempt  for  the  sham  and  superficialities  of  life,  a  trait 
inherited  from  his  rugged  forebears.  As  a  boy  and  as  a  young 
man,  he  was  noted  for  a  temper,  often  violent,  but  beneath  his 
heated  words  was  a  still  warmer  heart,  and  a  soul  as  pure  and 
unfeigned  as  that  of  a  baby.  As  staunch  as  the  boldest  of  his 
race,  a  scion  as  rugged  as  the  storm-tossed  oaks  from  which  he 
was  sprung,  he  swayed  to  the  gentlest  zephyrs  of  emotion,  and 
loved  with  an  uncommon  love  the  sunshine  of  a  life  in  which 
there  was  so  much  of  shade  for  him. 

Henry  Wise,  as  we  have  seen,  chose  medicine  as  his  pro- 
fession, and  well  he  did  so,  for  to  him  fell  the  burden  that  had 
rested  upon  his  father's  shoulders — the  burden  of  ministering 
to  the  poorer  classes  and  desolate  homes  of  the  countryside  from 
Jamestown  to  Yorktown.  He  was  graduated  with  distinction 
from  the  Virginia  Medical  College  in  Richmond,  and  while  a 
student  there  numbered  among  his  warmest  friends  the  now 
celebrated  Dr.  Stuart  McGuire,  of  Richmond. 

During  his  father's  political  activities  from  1895  to  the  time 
of  the  latter's  death,  the  son  looked  after  their  jomt  practice, 
and   soon   established   a  high   reputation   as   a  practitioner   and 


232  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

surgeon  independent  of  that  of  his  father.  Together  with  his 
sister  he  Hved  until  his  death  in  the  home  which  his  father  had 
purchased  the  year  before  he  died.  A  hicrative  practice  was 
rewarding  his  ceaseless  labors  when  suddenly  and  almost  with- 
out warning  he  passed  away  in  his  thirty-first  year,  beloved  by 
a  community  which  held  him  as  one  of  its  most  cherished  sons, 
and  which  loved  him  for  himself,  without  regard  to  the  rever- 
ence in  which  it  held  the  memory  of  his  grandfather  and  father. 

Dr.  Henry  Alexander  Wise  took  little  interest  in  politics,  and 
in  his  life  there  was  none  of  the  bitter  turmoil  of  factional 
struggle.  Known  widel}-  throughout  the  State,  his  friends  vvere 
legion,  and  he  had  already  occupied  positions  in  his  profession 
of  dignity  and  trust,  all  of  which,  as  well  as  the  great  respon- 
sibilities inherited  from  his  father,  he  bore  with  credit,  patience, 
and  ability.  His  was  a  natural  leadership  among  a  people  ac- 
customed and  devoted  to  the  name  he  bore,  and  as  said  by  one 
of  his  distinguished  contemporaries:  "Xo  man  ever  more  com- 
pletely measured  up  to  inherited  and  self -acquired  respon- 
sibilities— no  man  ever  more  nobly  fulfilled  the  expectations  of 
a  community." 

The  following  brief  obituary  sketch  was  written  by  Dr.  Stuart 
McGuire,  of  Richmond,  the  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Henrv  A. 
\\'ise : 

"Henry  A.  Wise,  M.  D. 

"1873-1904. 

"Dr.  Henry  A.  Wise  was  born  in  Williamsburg,  Va.,  Decem- 
ber 20,  1873.  He  was  the  son  of  a  physician  and  soon  deter- 
mined to  follow  in  his  father's  professional  footsteps. 

"His  early  education  was  obtained  under  difficulties,  as  for 
sexeral  years  he  was  rendered  an  in\alid  by  hip  trouble.  His 
acti\e  mind,  however,  rapidly  made  up  for  lost  opportunities, 
and  he  completed  his  academic  studies  at  W^illiam  and  ]\Iary 
College.  He  matriculated  in  the  University  College  of  Medicine 
the  first  vear  that  institution  opened  its  doors  to  students,  and 
recei\'ed  his  medical  degree  at  the  completion  of  the  required 
term  in  the  spring  of  1896. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         233 

"Dr.  Wise,  while  in  Richmond,  made  many  friends  and  was 
beloved  by  his  classmates  and  respected  by  his  teachers.  Despite 
the  demands  of  an  active  practice  he  was  regular  in  his  attend- 
ance at  the  annual  Commencement  exercises  of  his  Alma  Mater, 
and  no  meeting  was  considered  complete  without  his  presence. 
He  was  at  one  time  President  of  the  xA.lumni  Association  and 
the  humor,  pathos,  and  good  sense  of  the  address  he  delivered 
on  that  occasion  still  Vne  in  the  memory  of  those  who  heard  it. 

"After  graduation  Dr.  Wise  located  in  Williamsburg  and  was 
for  some  years  associated  with  his  father  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  He  soon  built  up  a  large  practice  and  won  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  entire  communit^'. 

"Although  a  man  of  positive  convictions  and  fearless  ex- 
pression of  opinion  Dr.  Wise  was  not  a  partisan,  and  avoided 
entanglements  in  the  many  social,  political,  and  theological  dis- 
sensions that  characterized  the  time  and  place  in  which  he  lived. 
His  simplicity  of  manner,  his  unquestioned  sincerity,  his  sympa- 
thetic disposition,  his  open-handed  generosity,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  his  keen  wit  and  unfailing  sense  of  humor  made  him  the 
friend  of  e\ery  person  in  his  count}-  without  regard  to  age, 
sex  or  color. 

"While  loved  for  his  personal  qualities  Dr.  Wise  was  equally 
valued  for  his  professional  attainments.  No  man  of  his  age  in 
the  State  ever  more  thoroughly  impressed  a  community  with 
confidence  in  his  ability  and  the  belief  that  he  would  use  his 
best  efforts  in  CA'ery  case  entrusted  to  his  hands.  It  is  said 
that  a  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own  countrv, 
and  certainh-  it  is  true  that  a  doctor  frequently  has  a  greater 
reputation  abroad  than  at  home.  That  a  man  of  thirty  could 
be  able  so  thoroughly  to  impress  a  country  community,  as  Henrv 
Wise  undoubtedly  did,  proves  he  was  not  only  talented,  but 
that  he  had  some  of  the  attributes  of  genius. 

"A  year  or  more  before  his  death  Dr.  Wise  learned  the 
existence  of  the  disease  that  would  inevitably  terminate  fatally. 
He  bound  his  physician  over  to  secrecy  and  kept  his  familv  and 
friends  in  ignorance  of  his  condition  until  his  maladv  could  no 
longer  be  concealed.  He  died  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  Richmond, 
Va.,  on  the  6th  of  May,  after  a  painful  and  distressing  illness, 
nursed  by  his  sister  and  faithful  friend,  and  attended  by 
physicians  that  knew  and  loved  him." 


234  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

The  first  child  of  Dr.  Richard  Alsop  Wise  and  Maria  Danger- 
field  is  Virginia  Peachy  Wise,  who  was  born  in  the  Maupin 
House,  October  19,  1871,  and  who  now  resides,  unmarried,  in 
Williamsburg,  in  the  home  which  she  inherited  from  her  father. 

Richard  Alsop  Wise,  Jr.,  the  third  child,  known  to  his  kin  as 
''Little  Dick,"  was  born  on  November  1.  1880,  like  his  brother, 
in  the  President's  House.  He  did  not  reach  maturity,  dying 
September  10,  1886 — a  boy  noted  for  his  personal  beauty. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
Margaretta  Ellen  Wise  and  Her  Descendants. 


Daughter  of  Henry  Alexander  Wise  and  Sarah 

Sergeant,  and  Wife  of  William 

Carrington  Mayo. 


Margaretta  Ellen  Wise,  called  "Xene"  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  as  an  infant  her  Portuguese  nurse  in  Brazil  called  her 
"Nene" — "baby"  in  Portuguese — was  born  in  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
September  25,  1844,  and  died  in  Richmond,  Va.,  March  23, 
1909.  Her  first  name  was  that  of  her  maternal  grandmother, 
Margaretta  Watmough,  wife  of  Hon.  John  Sergeant  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

Of  her  Capt.  T.  Cooper  De  Leon  wrote,  that  she  was  "A 
marked  belle  of  Richmond  war-time:  her  wit  was  exceptional." 
She  was  certainly  noted  for  her  wit,  which  was  not  only  excep- 
tional but  proverbial.  In  an  historical  sketch  of  Dahlgren's 
Raid,  which  she  wrote,  and  which  appeared  in  the  Century 
Magazine,  she  gave  evidence  of  considerable  ability  as  a  writer. 

She  married,  January  29,  1870,  William  Carrington  Mayo, 
of  Richmond,  a  brilliant  scholar  and  soldier  of  the  Confederacy, 
born  January  8,  1834;  died  April  12,  1900,  in  Washington, 
where  he  was  in  the  employ  of  the  State  Department  as  a  trans- 
lator of  foreign  documents.  He  was  the  son  of  Edward  Car- 
rington Mayo,  of  Virginia,  and  Adeline  Alarx.  The  issue  of 
this  marriage  was: 

1.  Sarah  Sergeant  Mayo,  born  November  22,  1870.  Mar- 
ried, November  21^,  1889,  Dr.  William  Tell  Oppen- 
heimer,  for  many  years  President  of  the  Board  of 
Health,  of  Richmond,  born  March  7,  1861,  son  of 
Abram  Oppenheimer,  born  in  Germany,  and  Sarah  Eliza 
Jones,  of  Fluvanna  County.     They  had  issue : 

1.  Ellen  Wise  Oppenheimer.  born  August  21,  1890; 
died  July  23,  1891. 

2.  Dr.  William  Tell  Oppenheimer,  Jr.,  born  February 
16,  1892. 

3.  Sarah  Sergeant  Oppenheimer,  born  July  5,  1894. 
Married,  October  19,  1916,  Erskine  Ross  Buford, 
son  of  Col.  Algernon  Sidney  Buford  of  Richmond. 

4.  Henry  Alexander  Wise  Oppenheimer,  born  June  14, 
1896.^ 


238  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

2.  Mary  Lyons  Mayo,  born  August  5,  1872.  Married. 
October  16,  1902,  Richard  Parker  Crenshaw,  of  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  son  of  Augustus  Pemberton  Crenshaw  and 
EHzabeth  Ricarda  Parker,  and  had : 

1.  Richard  Parker  Crenshaw.  Jr.,  born  August  16,  1903. 

2.  Ellen  Wise  Crenshaw,  born  September  17,   1906. 

3.  Ellen  Wise  Mayo,  born  December  7,  1875;  married, 
June  7,  1900,  Dr.  St.  Julian  Oppenheimer,  of  Richmond, 
born  January  27,  1866,  and  had: 

1.  Ellen  Wise,  born  ^larch  11,  1901. 

2.  Katherine  Sergeant,  born  December  8.  1903. 

3.  Martha  Anderson,  born  June  30.  1907. 

4.  Anne  Latimer,  born  May  8.  1909. 

5.  St.  Julien,  Jr.,  born  June  9,   1910. 

6.  William  ^layo,  born  May  30,  1913. 

7.  Mary  Mayo,  born  August  21.  1915. 

4.  Henry  Wise  Mayo.  Esq.,  born  October  7,  1876.  Grad- 
uate University  of  \^irginia,  1896.  Assistant  Corpora- 
tion Counsel,  New  York  City.  Married,  September  14, 
1910,  Elizabeth  Leroy  Puryear.  daughter  of  Dr.  Bennet 
Puryear  and  Ella  Wiles,  of  Orange,  Va.,  and  had: 

1.  Elizabeth  Carrington  ]\Iayo,  born  September  3,  1911. 

2.  Henry  Wise  Mayo.  Jr.,  born  April  5,  1914. 

3.  Ellen  \\'ise  ]\Iayo.  born  January  14,  1916. 

5.  Annie  Wise"  ]\Iayo,  born  February  23,  1880.  Married, 
in  1902.  James  Brandt  Latimer,  of  Chicago,  111.  No 
issue. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
John  Sergeant  Wise  of  the  Seventh  Generation. 


Son  of  Henry  Alexander  Wise  and 

Sarah  Sergeant,  and  His 

Descendants. 


John  Sergeant  \\^ise  was  the  second  son  and  third  child  of 
Gov.  Henry  A.  Wise  by  his  second  wife,  Sarah  Sergeant.  He 
was  named  after  his  maternal  grandfather.  The  time  is  not 
yet  ripe  for  a  biography  of  this  unusual  man.  He  was  without 
doubt  the  most  gifted  of  his  father's  sons,  and  his  father's  toga 
may  be  said  to  have  fallen  upon  his  shoulders.  His  books  must 
be  read  to  obtain  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his  life  and  character. 
His  was  a  stirring  career,  and  the  impress  he  made  upon  his 
time  will  last.  The  writer  can  only  include  here  a  memorial 
sketch,  which  is  taken  from  the  Year  Book  for  1914,  of  the 
Association  of  the  Bar  of  the  City  of  New  York: 

"Memorial  of  John  Sergeant  Wise. 

"(prepared  by   ROBERT   L.    HARRISON.) 

"John  Sergeant  W^ise  died  on  May  12,  1913.  He  was  the 
son  of  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  the  famous  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia just  before  the  Civil  War.  His  mother  was  Sarah 
Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia,  who  was  the  daughter  of  John 
Sergeant,  for  many  years  the  leading  lawyer  of  Philadelphia. 
On  both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides  there  was  a  long  line 
of  soldiers  and  lawyers.  Mr.  Wise  was  born  at  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
on  December  25,  1846,  his  father  at  the  time  being  resident 
there  as  Minister  to  Brazil.  His  father  returned  to  the  United 
States  in  1847.  and  became  Governor  of  Virginia  in  1856, 
serving  as  Governor  until  1860.  It  was  during  his  governor- 
ship that  John  Brown  was  hanged  at  Harper's  Ferry,  an  episode 
which  was  fraught  with  such  tremendous  consequences.  John 
Sergeant  Wise  pursued  the  ordinary  career  of  the  Virginia  boy, 
going  to  school  in  Accomac  County,  Virginia,  of  which  his 
father  was  a  native,  and  later  to  a  school  near  Norfolk,  Va., 
where  he  remained  until  his  father  became  Governor.  In  1862 
he  entered  as  a  cadet  in  the  Virginia  ^Military  Institute,  which 
rejoices  in  the  sobriquet  of  the  West  Point  of  the  South.  He 
soon  became  a  corporal  of  his  company,  and  in  May,  1864, 
there  was  fought  the  Battle  of  New  Market  near  the  little  village 
of  that  name  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia.  The  entire  corps  of 
cadets,   two  hundred   and  twenty-five   strong,   had   marched  to 


16 


242  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

the  scene  of  the  battle  with  boyish  enthusiasm,  eager  to  see  what 
a  fight  was  hke.  Among  the  most  enthusiastic  was  John  S. 
Wise.  He  was  detailed  to  take  charge  of  the  baggage  wagon, 
but  he  and  the  fellow-members  of  the  guard,  all  full  of  the  same 
enthusiasm,  were  not  content  with  such  idle  work,  and  so  leav- 
ing the  baggage  wagon  in  charge  of  a  colored  servant,  all  four 
joined  their  company,  and  subsequently  one  was  killed  and  two 
were  wounded.  The  order  was  given  to  charge  a  Federal 
battery,  and  the  cadets  outstripping  in  their  eagerness  the 
veteran  regiments  with  which  they  were  associated,  the  whole 
battery  was  captured  with  its  gunners,  guarded  though  it  was 
by  some  of  the  finest  soldiers  in  the  Federal  Army,  but  at  the 
severe  loss  of  nine  killed  and  forty-six  wounded  out  of  a  roster 
of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five,  almost  twenty-five  per  cent. 
John  Wise  was  among  the  wounded,  having  been  hit  by  a  piece 
of  shell.  The  wound,  however,  was  not  dangerous  and  he  soon 
recovered.  He  wanted  now  to  be  a  real  soldier  and  so,  with 
the  permission  of  his  father,  at  the  age  of  se\'enteen  he  entered 
the  regular  service  as  lieutenant.  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  selected 
him  as  the  courier  to  carry  the  last  message  sent  to  President 
Davis  just  before  the  surrender  at  Appomattox.  The  Civil  War 
over,  he  entered,  in  October,  1865,  the  University  of  Virginia, 
becoming  a  member  of  the  law  class,  at  the  same  time  pursuing 
a  course  in  moral  philosophy  and  political  economy.  At  the  end 
of  the  session  of  1866-67  he  was  graduated  Bachelor  of  Law 
of  the  L^niversity  of  Virginia,  and  almost  immediately  there- 
after became  a  partner  with  his  father  in  the  firm  of  H.  A.  & 
J.  S.  Wise,  having  its  office  in  the  City  of  Richmond.  This  firm 
ci^ntinued  in  existence  until  the  death  of  Henry  A.  Wise,  in 
1876,  and  subsequently  the  firm  of  Wise  and  Hobson  was 
formed.  Mr.  HoIdsou  [Henry  Wise  Hobson,  see  p.  199]  being 
Mr.  Wise's  nephew.  This  firm  lasted  a  few  years.  Mr.  Hobson 
was  compelled  to  go  to  Colorado  for  his  health  and  settled  in  the 
City  of  Denver.  During  the  first  administration  of  President 
Cleveland  he  was  made  District  Attorney  for  Colorado.  In  1881 
Mr.  Wise  was  appointed  United  States  District  Attorney  for  the 
Eastern  District  of  Virginia,  but  served  only  one  year,  as  in 
1882  he  was  elected  Congressman  at  large  for  Virginia  (48th 
Congress).  Subsequently,  in  1884,  he  was  a  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor, but  was  defeated  by  Fitzhugh  Lee  on  a  very  close  vote. 
In  1888  Mr.  Wise  came  to  N^ew  York  as  the  general  counsel  of 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AXD  DESCEXDAXTS         243 

the  Sprague  Electric  Compan}-.  the  Edison  General  Electric 
Compan}',  and  the  General  Electric  Company.  He  continued  in 
this  capacity  for  several  years.  In  1892,  in  association  with  Mr. 
Dallas  Flannagan,  he  formed  the  firm  of  Wise  &  Flannagan, 
which  continued  until  1898.  In  association  with  his  son.  Henry 
A.  Wise,  he  then  formed  a  firm  under  the  name  of  J.  S.  &  H.  A. 
Wise,  which  firm  lasted  until  John  Sergeant  Wise's  death.  Thus 
after  thirty  years  of  practice  the  name  of  his  law  firm  was 
practically  the  same  as  that  with  which  he  began  the  practice  of 
law.  While  practicing  his  profession  in  Virginia,  and  as  repre- 
sentatiAX  of  the  Sprague  Electric  Company,  he  was  engaged  in 
a  piece  of  litigation  with  the  Bell  Telephone  Company  over  the 
right  of  electric  companies  to  use  electricity  as  a  means  of  pro- 
pulsion of  cars  on  account  of  interference  with  the  transmission 
of  current  over  telephone  lines.  He  was  entirely  successful  in 
his  contention  that  the  electric  companies  had  the  right  to  use 
the  current,  and  this  suit  was  the  occasion  of  his  removal  to  X^'ew 
York.  The  question  presented  in  this  case  was  a  novel  one  and,  by 
reason  of  his  initial  success,  Mr.  Wise  was  required  to  go  to  a 
great  many  states  of  the  Union,  Canada,  and  to  Great  Britain, 
in  the  interest  of  his  company.  In  every  litigation  in  which  the 
point  was  raised,  he  was  entirely  successful.  After  his  retire- 
ment from  the  special  office  of  counsel  for  the  various  companies 
mentioned,  he  was  engaged  in  general  practice  and  had  built  up 
a  substantial  law  practice.  He  was  particularly  fond  of  jury 
trials  and  he  had  a  wonderful  career  of  success  in  the  trial  of 
jurv  cases.  In  a  period  of  sixteen  years  he  lost  but  one  jury 
trial.  These  cases  covered  a  very  wide  field  and  resulted  in 
argument  of  appeals  both  in  the  State  and  Federal  Courts.  Mr. 
Wise  was  full  of  restless  energy  and  so  he  began,  after  taking 
up  his  residence  in  X^ew  York,  the  writing  of  books.  One  of 
them  'Diomede'  (1897),  the  history  of  a  dog,  has  become  a 
classic,  ranking  along  with  *Rab  and  His  Friends.'  and  'Bob. 
Son  of  Battle.'  This  book  is  the  history  of  a  favorite  setter. 
who  had  been  with  him  on  many  shooting  expeditions  in  the 
Southern  and  Western  States.  He  also  wrote  the  'End  of  An 
Era'  (1899).  a  book  of  thrilling  interest  and  of  great  historical 
value.  'The  Lion's  Skin'  (1905).  'Recollections  of  Thirteen 
Presidents'  (1906).  and  last  of  all  'Citizenship'  (1906).  a 
masterful  treatise  on  the  status  of  the  citizen  under  the  Con- 
stitution.    In  191 1  he  began  to  fail  physically.     His  doctor  in- 


244  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

formed  him  tliat  he  had  a  dangerous  aihnent  which  might  at 
any  time  prove  fatal,  and  that  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  leave 
New  York  and  to  go  to  some  place  where  he  could  lead  a  quiet 
life,  free  from  excitement.  He  had  owned  for  some  time  a  place 
near  Cape  Charles,  in  the  County  of  Accomac,  and  thither  he 
repaired  to  spend  the  remaining  years  of  his  life.  The  county 
people  became  aware  of  the  residence  in  their  midst  of  the  dis- 
tinguished New^  York  lawyer  and  he  was  besought  to  try  cases 
in  the  law  courts.  He  could  not  resist,  though  he  was  informed 
that  such  work  was  dangerous.  He  tried  these  cases  with  the 
same  enthusiasm  and  vigor  with  w^hich  he  had  practiced  in  larger 
jurisdictions,  and  in  one  instance  he  was  compelled  to  try  a 
case  four  times,  resulting  in  the  end  in  triumphant  victory,  but 
he  had  to  pay  the  price  for  such  labor.  Finally,  in  1913,  he 
repaired  to  a  sanitarium  at  Bryn  Mawr  (the  director  of  which 
was  his  devoted  cousin,  Dr.  George  Smith  Gerhard,  of  Phila- 
delphia), where  he  could  have  more  careful  and  constant  watch- 
ing, but  his  end  was  near.  In  the  spring  of  1913,  while  on  the 
w-ay  to  his  country  home,  he  was  seized  with  a  sudden  attack 
and  died  (in  Princess  Anne  County,  Maryland,  at  the  summer 
home  of  his  son),  on  May  12th,  at  the  very  hour  w^hen  a  large 
assembly  w-as  gathering  at  a  dinner  in  honor  of  his  son,  Henry 
A.  Wise,  w^ho  had  lately  retired  from  the  position  of  United 
States  District  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  give  anything  like  a  complete  picture  of 
John  S.  Wise  in  the  space  allotted  to  the  writer.  He  was  a  man 
of  infinite  charm  of  manner,  full  of  wit  and  humor,  rare  culti- 
vation, W'ith  a  winning  address  which  charmed  everybody  who 
met  him.  His  was  a  unique  character.  From  early  youth  he 
had  a  gift  of  eloquence  which  enabled  him  to  charm  audiences 
in  every  walk  of  life,  and  as  soon  as  he  came  to  New  York  he 
was  at  once  in  great  demand  for  after-dinner  speeches.  He  was 
an  accomplished  story-teller  and  had  an  almost  limitless  number 
of  anecdotes  upon  every  conceivable  subject.  His  humor  was 
so  irresistible  that  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  could  not  restrain  their  amusement  at  the 
humorous  illustrations  with  which  his  argument  was  punctuated. 
He  was  a  staunch  and  faithful  friend,  a  devoted  husband  and 
father,  an  able  lawyer,  a  man  of  the  strictest  honor  and  integrity, 
an  ornament  to  societv  and  the  Bar." 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


245 


(For  a  very  striking  incident  in  John  S.  Wise's  life — the  carry- 
ing of  Lee's  last  dispatches  to  Mr.  Davis,  etc. — see  "Brave 
Deeds  of  Confederate  Soldiers,"  by  Dr.  PhiHp  Alexander  Bruce.) 

To  the  foregoing  sketch  of  Mr.  Harrison's  should  be  added 
the  fact  that  John  Sergeant  Wise  was  captain  of  the  Richmond 
Light  Infantry   Blues   from  the   time   of   its   reorganization  in 


HON.  JOHN   SERGEANT  WISE 


1877  to  1882.  His  older  brother  (half-brother),  Obidiah 
Jennings  Wise,  was  killed  in  battle  in  1862  while  in  command 
of  this  companv,  and  his  cousin,  Peyton  Wise,  later  commanded 
the  "Blues." 

A  portrait  of  Mr.  Wise  was  painted  by  his  friend,  Lyell  Carr, 
shortly  before  his  death,  and  a  miniature  of  him  as  a  Con- 
federate   Drill-Master    exists.      In    youth    he    was    a    strikingly 


246  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

handsome  man.  Among  his  many  speeches  may  be  mentioned 
two  in  i^articular — one  deH^■ered  to  the  "Blues"  and  repeated 
to  tlie  Corps  of  Cadets,  V.  M.  L,  in  1884,  on  the  Battle  of  New 
Market,  which  appears  as  a  chapter  in  "The  End  of  An  Era," 
and  his  oration  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  Grant's 
Tomb,  Memorial  Day,  1891,  under  the  auspices  of  U.  S.  Grant 
Post,  No.  327,  G.  A.  R.  Mr.  Wise  delivered  orations  on  many 
subjects,  but  these  two  are  fair  samples  of  his  eloquence.  Some 
of  his  addresses  have  been  reproduced  in  various  encyclopaedias 
of  American  oratory  and  literature.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Beta  Theta  Pi  Fraternity,  Virginia  Society  of  the  Cincinnati, 
Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  etc.,  and  took  one  degree  in 
Masonry. 

He  was  especially  noted  as  a  sportsman  and  fancier  of  shoot- 
ing dogs  on  which  he  was  regarded  as  an  authority  in  this 
country  and  abroad. 

The  volume  of  his  papers,  dealing  with  innumerable  subjects 
— from  history  and  politics  to  sport — is  immense,  and  some  day 
will  furnish  the  material  for  a  biography  of  national  interest. 
His  intimate  acquaintance  with  prominent  men  was  as  broad  as 
his  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  world.  He  was  one  of  the  few 
Southern  men  ever  admitted  as  a  member  to  the  Union  League 
Club  of  New  York,  but  he  never  surrendered  a  particle  of  his 
lo\alty  to  the  cause  of  the  South.  A  sketch  of  his  life  and 
literary  works  is  included  in  the  "Library  of  Southern  Litera- 
ture." Lqion  his  death  very  handsome  resolutions  were  passed 
by  the  Union  League  Club  of  New  York. 

One  more  interesting  fact  should  be  added,  concerning  John 
Sergeant  \\'ise — a  thing  that  can  not  be  said  of  any  other  man, 
so  far  as  the  writer  is  informed.  His  body  was  taken  to  his 
resting  place  in  Hollywood  Cemetery  beside  his  illustrious  father 
on  Mav  15,  1913.  the  forty-ninth  anniversary  of  the  day  of  his 
wounding  as  a  youth  in  battle — the  day  of  all  days  he  remem- 
Ijered  best — wrapped  in  the  three  flags  to  which  his  life  had  been 
dedicated. 

When  his  remains  arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe  from  the 
Eastern  Shore,  on  the  evening  of  May  14th,  they  were  met  by 
a  detail  from  the  Garrison.     Placed  on  a  gun  carriage  the\-  were 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         247 

escorted  to  the  Post  Chapel  and  lay  there  overnight,  resting  on 
the  identical  racks  that  had  last  supported  the  hier  of  Gen. 
Robert  Anderson  of  Sumter  fame.  The  Artillery  Commandant 
desired  to  send  a  military  escort  to  Richmond  with  the  remains 
the  next  morning,  but  the  family  would  not  permit  this  generous 
attention.  Arriving  at  Richmond  the  morning  of  the  15th, 
wrapped  in  the  United  States  flag,  which  had  been  placed  on 
the  bier  at  Fortress  Monroe  by  the  commanding  officer,  the 
body  was  met  by  a  delegation  from  Lee  Camp,  Confederate 
Veterans,  and  a  committee  of  the  Virginia  Society  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati, each  of  which  placed  its  flag — the  Stars  and  Bars  and 
the  Virginia  Cincinnati  banner — on  the  bier.  From  historic 
St.  Paul's  Church,  where  touching  funeral  services  were  held, 
attended  by  a  host  of  those  whom  he  loved  better  than  any 
people  in  the  world — tlie  representatives  of  Virginia's  noblest 
traditions — his  body  was  escorted  to  Hollywood  by  his  old  com- 
pany, the  Richmond  Light  Infantry  Blues,  and  lowered  into  the 
earth  by  his  five  sons  and  one  son-in-law,  amid  the  crash  of 
musketry.  The  sweet  notes  of  Taps  rung  out  over  the  grave,, 
followed  by  the  minute  guns  of  the  famous  Richmond  Howitzers. 

Peace  at  last  had  come  to  one  who  for  sixty  years  had  known 
no  peace.  And  here  let  one  who  was  present  say,  that  if  no 
other  fact  in  their  history  had  served  to  bind  forever  the 
affections  of  his  sons  and  daughters  to  Virginia,  the  generous 
devotion  and  evidences  of  respect  for  their  father's  memory  of 
those  who  gathered  at  his  grave  would  have  sufficed  to  do  so. 

It  is  a  very  common  but  erroneous  belief  that  John  Sergeant 
Wise  owned,  and  resided  at  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life, 
the  ancestral  home  of  his  family  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Vir- 
ginia. The  original  Wise  estates  of  "Chfton"  and  "Fort 
George"  passed  out  of  the  possession  of  the  family  in  1867. 
Governor  Wise's  home,  "Only,"  on  Onancock  Creek,  was  sold 
before  the  war.  "Kiptopeake,"  on  the  extreme  point  of  Cape 
Charles,  in  Northampton  County,  was  the  latter-day  home  of 
John  Sergeant  Wise.  In  1896  a  club  of  sportsmen  was  formed 
in  New  York,  and  at  Mr.  Wise's  instance  they  purchased  the 
farm  which  then  belonged  to  Mrs.  Latimer,  who  had  inherited 
it  from  her  father,  Mr.  Hallet.     It  had  been  in  the  Hallet  and 


248  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Fitchett  families  since  early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  A 
large  clubhouse  was  erected  by  "The  Cape  Charles  Venture" 
and  extensive  improvements  were  made.  Soon  the  club  dis- 
solved, and  Mr.  Wise  purchased  the  property,  and  named  the 
place  "Kiptopeake,"  after  the  Indian  Chief  who  there  wel- 
comed Capt.  John  Smith,  in  1608,  when  he  first  visited  the 
Kingdom  of  Accomack.  Kiptopeake  was  the  brother  and  deputy 
ruler  of  "The  Laughing  King"  of  the  Accawmackes.  John 
Smith  described  his  visit  to  Kiptopeake's  village,  which  stood 
near  the  point  of  the  cape,  and  declares  that  Kiptopeake  was 
"the  most  kindly,  civil  savage"  he  had  met.  Kiptopeake  was 
for  many  years  a  friend  of  Mr.  Wise's  parental  ancestors.  Dur- 
ing the  last  twenty  years  of  Mr.  Wise's  life,  much  of  which 
time  he  spent  at  "Kiptopeake,"  his  Cape  Charles  home  was  the 
ruling  passion  of  his  life.  He  loved  it  as  a  mariner  the  faithful 
craft  which  has  long  borne  him  upon  the  sea.  There,  at  that 
beautiful  spot,  so  favored  by  nature  and  rich  in  traditions,  with 
his  flowers  and  his  trees,  and  his  shooting  dogs,  which  he  had 
bred  for  half  a  century,  and  innumerable  boats,  with  the  blue 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  Chesapeake  all  about  him,  he  gathered 
together  his  children  and  his  grandchildren,  his  friends  and  their 
friends,  often  as  many  as  thirty  at  a  time,  and  asked  no  greater 
happiness  in  life.  After  his  death  "Kiptopeake"  was  purchased 
from  yirs.  Wise  by  her  son,  Henry  x^lexander  Wise  of  New 
York,  who  maintains  it  as  before. 

It  is  not  usual  to  include  in  a  work  of  this  kind  such  matter 
as  the  writer  now  proposes  to  insert,  but  the  letter  is  of  such 
importance  in  its  bearing  upon  the  life  of  John  Sergeant  Wise 
that  it  must  be  given  for  its  value  to  future  biographers. 
Furtliermore,  it  is  historically  valuable  in  relation  to  the  insti- 
tution of  duelling.  The  writer  of  the  letter  was  Capt.  B.  A. 
Colonna,  with  whom  my  father  roomed  as  a  cadet  at  the  Mrginia 
^Military  Institute,  and  who  was  second  captain  in  the  Corps  of 
Cadets  at  the  Battle  of  New  Market.  He  afterward  displayed 
great  gallantry  in  command  of  troops  of  the  foreign  legion  of 
the  Confederate  Army — troops  largely  composed  of  deserters 
from  the  Union  Army.  After  the  war  Captain  Colonna  became 
Assistant  Chief  of  the  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey.     Upon 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         249 

receipt  of  his  letter  I  showed  it  to  my  father  who  was  then 
alive.  His  only  remark  was  that  "dear  old  'Duck'  was  right." 
Captain  Colonna  now  resides  in  W^ashington,  D.  C. 

140  "B,"  N.  E.,  Washington,  D.  C, 

Nov.  26,  1912. 
Col.  Jennings  C.  Wise, 

Lexington,  Va.. 

My  dear  Colonel: 

Ever  since  reaching  home  from  my  visit  to  your  good  father 
at  Kiptopeake  I  have  been  intending  to  write  to  you,  not  par- 
ticularly to  tell  you  how  delightful  a  time  I  had,  tho  it  was  a 
red  letter  week  for  me,  nor  to  thank  you  for  the  kind  notion 
you  have  taken  of  my  son,  each  of  which  entitles  you  to  an 
acknowledgment  from  me;  but  on  account  of  an  incident  con- 
cerning w^hich  I  beg  leave  to  write  because  I  alone  know  of  it, 
and  I  must  write  for  truth's  sake.  The  necessity  of  my  writing 
was  brought  home  to  me  at  Onancock  by  a  young  man  remark- 
ing of  John:  "He  is  a  talented  man  and  a  delighted  com- 
panion but  he  did  not  care  to  face  McCarty,"  or  something  of 
that  sort,  which  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  put  the  youngster 
straight,  as  I  wish  I  could  put  every  one  by  relating  these  facts. 
In  the  Fall  of  1881,  I  returned  to  Washington  from  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.,  where  I  had  been  for  some  years  in  the  Coast  and 
Geodetic  Survey.  It  was  on  a  Fall  day  in  October  and  I  was 
looking  in  the  window  of  an  art  store,  on  Penna.  Ave.  at  an 
oil  painting  of  Nat.  Bridge,  Va.  Some  one  came  and  stood 
beside  me  looking  at  the  same,  and  w^hen  I  turned  to  go  I  faced 
your  father,  my  dear  friend,  Hon.  John  S.  Wise.  The  recog- 
nition was  instant  and  mutual  and  right  then  we  embraced  one 
another  very  cordially,  which  being  over  John  called  a  passing 
carriage  and  invited  me  to  take  a  ride  with  him.  We  drove 
to  the  Soldiers'  Home  and  on  the  way  we  reviewed  many  de- 
lightful incidents  of  our  lives.  When  we  reached  the  delightful 
drive  of  the  Home  Grounds  we  fell  into  silence  and  my  mind 
somehow  dropped  upon  the  matters  of  duelling,  and  I  broke 
the  silence  by  asking  John  if  I  might  presume  to  assume  the 
role  of  the  older  boy  as  in  the  days  at  V.  AI.  I.  He  laugh- 
ingly repHed.  "Go  ahead.  Duck;  I  will  listen  as  of  old."  I 
thereupon  told  him  how  difficult  I  had  found  it  among  strangers 


250  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

to  defend  our  home  people  in  the  matter  of  duelhng,  which  was 
behind  the  times  and  pernicious,  and  that  he  had  it  in  his  power 
to  do  more  to  stamp  it  out  than  any  living  man,  I  thought.  I 
then  reminded  him  of  how  much  moral  courage  it  would  re- 
quire to  take  and  hold  the  position  and  how  he  of  all  men 
would  find  it  difficult,  but  that  if  he  would  it  would  be  to  his 
everlasting  honor  to  do  so.  I  admitted  my  own  weakness  and 
urged  him  to  be  strong.  Then  I  put  the  question,  "John,  will 
you  promise  me  never  to  send  another  challenge  yourself  on  any 
provocation  whatever  to  any  person  whatever,  nor  to  accept 
any  challenge  whatever  from  any  person  whatever  for  any 
provocation  whatever?"  Then  we  rode  in  silence  for  what  ap- 
peared an  age.  I  watched  the  face  of  my  noble  friend  and  it 
seemed  that  I  could  see  the  good  and  the  evil  in  control  each 
in  turn.  Finally  he  became  calm,  and  intelligence  and  will  power 
had  triumphed.  He  raised  his  head  from  a  position  of  re- 
flection, looked  me  full  in  the  face  and  said,  while  gently  smil- 
ing, "Duck,  I  promise."  I  again  reminded  him  of  the  burden 
he  was  assuming  and  urged  him  to  be  steadfast.  Then  we  rode 
for  a  few  minutes  more  and  finally  began  our  pleasant  chat. 
Then  I  knew  that  duelling  was  over  so  far  as  John  S.  W^ise 
was  concerned  and  I  believe  it  ended  throughout  the  land,  as 
it  seemed  in  after  years  to  be. 

I  know  John  S.  Wise  too  well  to  fail  to  understand  that  he 
has  suffered,  and  he  has  demonstrated  to  me  that  he  is  willing 
to  suffer  to  the  end  rather  than  try  to  make  public  the  facts  in 
this  matter.  I  have  respected  his  silence,  except  in  instances 
when  criticisms  have  been  in  my  hearing,  when  I  have  resented 
them  and  explained,  always  gaining  an  apology,  and  a  compli- 
ment for  my  friend. 

His  children  have  a  right  to  this  record  from  me  and  I  place 
it  in  your  hands  for  all,  only  asking  that  you  have  him  \erify 
the  statement. 

With  love  to  you  and  }-ours.  each  and  every  one  of  you,  I  am. 

Yours  respectfully, 

B.    A.    COLOXNA. 

Soon  after  the  incident  referred  to,  by  Captain  Colonna, 
John  Sergeant  Wise  published  a  card  in  the  RichmoiKl  ])apers 
in  which  he  announced  that,  having  satisfied  all  outstanding 
obligations  on  the  field  of  honor,  he  would  henceforth  accept  no 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         251 

challenges.  Challenges  were  thereafter  received  but  declined 
by  him,  which  subjected  him  to  much  adverse  criticism  in  cer- 
tain quarters. 

November  3,  1869.  John  Sergeant  Wise  married  Evelyn 
(Byrd  or  Arch)  Beverley  Douglas,  youngest  daughter  of  ]\Ir. 
Hugh  Douglas,  of  Nashville.  Tenn.  They  were  distantly  related 
through  the  Douglas  ancestors  of  the  \\'ises.  Her  ancestory  is 
given  in  Chapters  XN.,  XXL,  XXII. ,  and  XXIII.     Their  issue 


1.  John  Sergeant  Wise,  born  October  25,  1870;  died 
August  3,  1871. 

2.  Col.  Hugh  Douglas  Wise,  X"^.  A.,  born  Richmond.  \'a., 
October  10,  1871.  U.  S.  ^.L  A.,  1894.  Graduate  Staff 
College,  U.  S.  Army.  Member  Kappa  Alpha  Order,  and 
the  Virginia  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  Married,  January 
18,  1906,  Ida  Rosa  Hungerford,  daughter  of  Richard 
Stanley  Hungerford  and  Adell  Babcock.  of  Watertown, 
N.  Y.,  and  had : 

1.  Richard  Hungerford  AA'ise.  born  October  22,  1907. 

2.  Hugh  Douglas  Wise,  born  January  27,  1912. 

3.  John  Sergeant  Wise,  born  October  21,  1914. 

Colonel  Wise  attended  various  schools  in  Richmond  until  1887. 
when  he  entered  the  A^irginia  ^Military  Institute.  After  two 
years  at  that  institution  he  was  appointed  to  the  United  States 
Military  Academy,  at  large,  by  President  Harrison.  Graduating 
from  the  Academy  in  1894  as  a  cadet  lieutenant,  he  received  his 
commission  as  second  lieutenant  in  the  9th  U.  S.  Infantry,  and 
the  following  year  was  ordered  to  proceed  as  a  bicycle  dispatch 
bearer  from  ]\Iadison  Barracks  to  General  Miles  at  Governor's 
Island.  He  covered  the  distance  of  384  miles  over  rough  roads, 
and  through  the  Catskill  Mountains,  with  heavy  marching  equip- 
ment, in  the  unequaled  time  of  96  hours.  Soon  after  this  trip 
he  broke  the  bicycle  record  between  X'ew  York  City  and  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

In  1896  Lieutenant  \\'ise  was  ordered  to  Governor's  Island 
on  detailed  duty  with  the  13th  Infantry,  where  he  conducted  a 
series   of  original   experiments   with   kites   adapted   to   military 


252  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

purposes.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  along  this  Hne  of  in- 
\estigation.  and  soon  perfected  several  valuable  box  kites  by 
means'  of  which  he  was  able  to  secure  panoramic  photographs 
of  the  underlying  county.  On  one  occasion  he  ascended  to  an 
elevation  of  150  feet  in  a  tandem  kite  of  his  own  invention, 
being  the  first  American  to  sail  in  a  kite.  Two  cases  in  other 
countries  of  kite  ascension  have  occurred. 

Lieutenant  Wise  served  throughout  the  Spanish-American 
War  with  his  regiment,  the  9th  Infantry,  and  took  part  in  the 
assault  which  the  3d  Brigade,  3d  Division  of  Shafter's  Army, 
made  on  San  Juan  Hill.  During  the  advance  across  the  open 
fields  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  up  the  slope  under  a  terrific 
fire,  he  took  with  his  pocket  kodak  six  photographs  showing  the 
Spanish  defenders  firing  from  their  works. 

After  the  surrender  of  Santiago  he  was  appointed  Assistant 
Adjutant  General,  with  temporary  rank  of  captain,  on  the  staff 
of  Gen.  Henry  T.  Douglas,  commanding  a  division  of  the  army 
occupying  Havana,  and  later  served  on  the  stafi^  of  Gen.  Fitz- 
hugh  Lee.  When  his  regiment  was  ordered  to  the  Philippines 
from  Montauk  Point  he  rejoined  it  in  Manila,  and  took  part  in 
the  Northern  Advance  as  Intelligence  Officer  on  the  staff  of 
Gen.  Joseph  Wheeler. 

During  his  Philippine  service  he  was  appointed  major  of  the 
47th  U.  S.  Volunteers,  and  after  distinguished  service  in  Albay, 
and  being  recommended  for  brevet  for  conspicuous  gallantry 
on  a  number  of  occasions,  and  receiving  the  thanks  of  the  Navy 
Department,  received  his  commission  as  captain  in  the  26th 
Infantry,  but  soon  transferred  to  the  9th  Infantry,  and  served 
with  it  throughout  the  Samar  Campaign. 

In  the  fall  of  1909  he  was  ordered  to  the  School  of  the  Line 
at  Fort  Leavenworth,  from  which  he  was  graduated  with  dis- 
tinction in  two  years.  After  one  year  at  the  Staff  College,  in 
which  he  stood  fourth  in  his  class,  he  was  assigned  to  duty  as 
Inspector-Instructor  with  the  New  York  Militia.  After  a  year 
of  such  service  he  was  assigned  to  the  3d  Infantry,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1916  was  commissioned  major.  In  1905-06  he  served 
as  major  of  the  8th  Battalion  of  Philippine  Scouts  in  the  island 
of  Samar.     In  August,  1917,  he  was  appointed  Colonel.  N.  A. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AXD  DESCENDANTS         253 

3.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  born  Richmond,  Va.,  April  6, 
1874.  After  attending  various  schools  in  Richmond,  and  the 
private  school  of  Col.  Thomas  H.  Carter,  at  "Pampatyke"  for 
three  years,  he  entered  the  Virginia  Military  Institute,  gradu- 
ating in  1894  as  senior  captain  of  the  Corps,  and  valedictorian 
of  his  class,  having  also  been  captain  of  the  football  team,  and 
president  of  the  Final  Ball. 

In  1896  he  received  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  from  the  New  York 
Law  School,  and  practiced  law  in  the  office  of  his  father  until 
1898,  when  he  was  commissioned  captain  4th  U.  S.  Volunteers. 
He  raised  and  commanded  Company  "L"  of  that  regiment  and 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  district  of  Bayamo, 
Province  of  Santiago.  Cuba,  where  he  remained  throughout  the 
year  1898-9.  In  May.  1899,  although  one  of  the  junior 
captains  of  his  regiment,  he  was  promoted  to  major  to  fill  an 
existing  vacancy,  thus  becoming  one  of  the  youngest  field  officers 
in  the  service — 23  years  of  age.  He  was  also  Judge  Advocate 
of  his  regiment.  After  being  mustered  out  of  the  ser^nce  in 
June,  1899,  he  formed  with  his  father  the  law  firm  of  J.  S.  & 
H.  A.  Wise.  April  1,  1909,  he  was  appointed  United  States 
Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York,  after  serving 
seven  years  as  Assistant  Attorney  under  Mr.  Stimson  and  others. 
In  this  important  office  he  won  great  prominence  in  connection 
with  the  Slocum  Wreck.  Sugar  Trust,  Railroad  Rebate,  Morse, 
Heinze,  and  other  cases.  In  1913  he  retired  from  office  and 
formed  the  law  firm  of  Bigelow  &  Wise,  of  New  York  City, 
his  associate  being  Mr.  Ernest  A.  Bigelow.  Mr.  Wise  was 
president  of  the  West  Side  Republican  Club  of  New  York  City, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  Union  League  Club,  and  of  the  Kappa 
Alpha  Order.  November  12,  1902,  he  married  Henrietta 
Edwina  Thomson  Booth,  daughter  of  Dr.  Edwin  Gilliam  Booth 
and  Clara  Haxall  Thomson,  of  "Carter's  Grove,"  Va.  Their 
children  are: 

1.  Clara   Thomson   Booth    \\'ise,   born    October    1,    1903; 
died  July,  1914. 

2.  John  Sergeant  Wise,  born  November  11,  1905. 

3.  Eva  Douglas  Wise,  born  May  17,  1908. 


254  Col.  JOHX  WISE 

4.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  born  October  17,  1910. 

5.  Henrietta  \\'ise,  bcn-n  July  6,  1913. 

4.  John  Sergeant  Wise,  Jr..  born  in  Richmond.  Va.,  March  2, 
1876.  His  early  education  was  had  at  Richmond  schools  and  at 
Col.  Thomas  H.  Carter's  private  school  at  "Pampatyke." 
Graduating  from  the  \'irginia  Military  Institute  in  1895,  and 
the  New  York  Law  School  in  1897,  with  the  degree  of  LL.  B., 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Denver.  Colo.,  in  January,  1898. 
In  Denver  he  practiced  in  the  office  of  his  cousin,  Henry  A\'ise 
Hobson.  Esq.,  until  the  call  for  volunteers  in  the  spring,  when 
he  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  in  the  4th  U.  S.  Volunteers, 
in  his  brother's  company.  In  June,  1899.  he  was  mustered  out 
of  the  service  after  one  year  in  Cuba,  and  in  1900  was  admitted 
to  the  New  York  bar,  practicing  in  the  firm  of  J.  S.  &  H.  A. 
Wise  of  which  he  became  a  member.  In  1904  he  served  as 
Special  Assistant  Attorney-General  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
election  frauds  of  New  York.  In  1903  Mayor  Low  appointed 
him  one  of  the  Change  of  Grade  Damage  Commissioners  for 
New  York  City.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Kappa  Alpha  Order. 
In  April,  1913.  he  married  Mrs.  Sarah  Morris  Green,  nee  Sarah 
Morris. 

5.  Hamilton  ^^'■ise.  born  August  19,  1877;  died  March  12, 
1881. 

6.  Eva  Douglas  W^ise,  born  Richmond,  Va.,  January  13,  1879. 
Married,  June  6.  1900,  James  Perrine  Barney,  U.  S.  Army, 
son  of  Edward  Everett  Barney,  of  Dayton.  Ohio,  and  Louise 
Johnson  Perrine,  and  had  James  Perrine  Barney,  Jr..  born 
A.pril  5,  1901.  W^hen  first  married  ]Mrs.  Barney  lived  with 
her  husband  on  his  mother's  "Jamestown  Island"  estate.  In 
1901,  he  entered  the  L'nited  States  Army  as  a  Lieutenant  of 
Cavalry,  and  was  retired  in  1912  for  physical  disability  incurred 
in  the  line  of  duty.  They  then  lived  at  "Kiptopeke,"  and  in 
1916  he  was  restored  to  his  original  rank  in  the  Army,  being 
promoted  Captain  of  Cavalry  in  1916,  and  Major.  N.  A.,  in  1917. 

7.  Jennings  Cropper  Wise,  born  in  Richmond,  Va.,  Septem- 
ber 10,  1881.  Attended  Richmond  and  New  York  schools,  and 
Phillips  Exeter  Academy  from  1896  to  1898.     Graduated  from 


HIS  AXXESTORS  AXD  DESCEXDAXTS         255 

the  Virginia  ^Military  Institute  as  second  cadet  captain,  dis- 
tinguished, with  the  degree  of  B.  S..  in  1902.  Commissioned 
second  heutenant  United  States  Army.  October  28,  1902,  and 
served  in  the  9th  U.  S.  Infantry,  resigning  his  commission, 
January  1,  1905,  to  enter  the  Carthage  ^Machine  Company,  of 
Carthage,  X".  Y..  of  which  he  became  secretary  and  managing 
superintendent.  In  ^lay.  1906.  he  became  purchasing  and 
forestry  agent  of  the  Taggarts  and  St.  Regis  Paper  companies, 
of  Watertown.  X^.  Y.,  and  in  Xovember.  1906,  organized  J.  C. 
^^'ise  &  Co.,  a  proprietary  concern  to  exploit  his  machinery 
patents.  Also  organized  the  Kamargo  Supply  Co.,  of  A\^ater- 
town,  a  mill  supply  brokerage  concern,  of  which  he  was  presi- 
dent until  1916.  In  September.  1907.  he  entered  the  University 
of  Virginia  and  was  graduated  from  the  Law  School  in  1909 
with  the  degree  of  B.  L..  having  been  admitted  to  the  Virginia 
Bar  in  X^ovember.  1908.  Erom  September.  1909.  to  June,  1912, 
he  practiced  law  in  Richmond  in  the  firm  of  ^^'ise  &  Chichester, 
and  in  June.  1912,  accepted  appointment  as  Commandant  of 
Cadets,  and  Professor  of  Law.  Economics  and  Political  Science, 
Virginia  Military  Institute,  with  the  rank  of  Colonel  of  Engi- 
neers. \^irginia  \^olunteers.  In  June.  1914,  he  resigned  his 
office  of  Commandant  of  Cadets,  and  in  1915  his  academic 
chair,  and  returned  to  Richmond,  forming  the  law  firm  of 
Pollard,  Wise  &  Chichester,  the  senior  member  of  which  was  the 
State  Attornev-General.  In  Mav,  1917,  he  was  appointed  Major. 
N.  A.  '  ' 

From  June,  1905,  to  September,  1907,  he  was  adjutant  of 
the  1st  X^.  Y.  Regiment  of  Infantry,  with  rank  of  first  lieutenant, 
and  from  September,  1910,  to  June,  1912,  was  captain  and 
adjutant.  1st  Battalion,  Eield  Artillery,  \"irginia  Volunteers. 
Besides  patenting  certain  machinery  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
sulphite  pulp,  he  organized  a  process  for  the  reclamation  of  a 
valuable  by-product  from  the  waste  liquors  of  sulphite  mills, 
and  a  combination  rail-chair  and  fish-plate. 

He  has  written  the  following  works : 

"Genealogical  Index  to  Meade's  Old  Churches  and  Families  of 
^'irginia,"  1909. 


256         .  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

"Early  History  of  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia,"  1910. 
"Gunnery:    A  Treatise  on  Artillery  and  Ballistics,"  1912. 
"Military   History   of  Virginia   Military   Institute    1837-65," 
1914. 

"Memoir  of  Scott  Shipp."  1915. 

"Empire  and  Armament"   (G.  P.  Putnam's),  1916. 

"The  Long  Arm  of  Lee."  1916. 

"The  Call  of  the  Repubhc"   (E.  P.  Button  &  Co.),  1917. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Kappa  Alpha  Order,  of  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  Society,  the  Raven  Society,  Phi  Delta  Phi,  Eli  Banana, 
Dove  Lodge  (Masonic  Order),  Westmoreland  Club,  Virginia 
Historical  Society,  Executive  Committee  Southern  Historical 
Society,  etc.,  etc.  In  June,  1916,  he  was  granted  the  degree  of 
M.  A.  by  the  Virginia  Military  Institute. 

October  4,  1905,  he  married  Elizabeth  Lydecker  Anderson, 
born  December  8,  1883,  daughter  of  David  Minott  Anderson 
and  Ida  May  Lydecker,  of  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  and  their 
children :  are : 

1.  Henry  Alexander  Wise,  born  August  21,  1906. 

2.  Elizabeth  Anderson  Wise,  born  October  29,  1910. 

8.  Margaretta  Watmough  Wise,  born  in  Richmond,  Va., 
July  16,  1884. 

9.  Byrd  Douglas  Wise,  born  in  Richmond,  Va.,  December 
21,  1886.  Attended  New  York  schools,  and  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute  from  1902  to  1904.  Entered  Columbia  Uni- 
versity in  1904,  and,  after  obtaining  the  degree  of  B.  A.,  was 
graduated  from  the  Columbia  Law  School  in  1909.  Practiced 
law  in  the  firms  of  Bryne  &  Cutcheon  and  J.  S.  &  H.  A.  Wise, 
and  is  now  employed  by  the  firm  of  Bigelow  &  Wise.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Beta  Theta  Pi  Fraternity.  May  20,  1914,  he 
married  Edith  Murray  Grandin,  daughter  of  Dr.  Egbert  Henry 
Grandin  and  Eanny  Throckmorton,  of  New  York  City,  and 
their  issue  is  Grandin  Wise,  born  September  29,  1917. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
Sarah  Sergeant. 


Wife  of  Governor  Henry  Alexander  Wise, 
Her  Ancestry. 


Including  the  Families  of  Sergeant,  Dickinson, 
Spencer,  Selden,  Eatton,  Wardwell,  Perkins, 
Watmough,  Ellis,  Willard,  Mills,  Dunster, 
Carmick,  Hall,  and  Kock,  and  References  to 
Certain  Families  Descended  from  John 
Sergeant,  Including  Those  of  Gerhard, 
Meade,  Smith,  Large,  and  Cram. 


In  November,  1840.  Henry  Alexander  Wise  married  his 
second  wife,  in  Philadelphia,  j\Iiss  Sarah  Sergeant.  She  was 
a  celebrated  beauty  in  Philadelphia  society  and  was  the  daughter 
of  Hon.  John  Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Margaretta  Wat- 
mough,    who   were  married   in    1813.      A   miniature   of   Sarah 


SARAH    SERGEANT 
Second  wife   of  Gov.   Henry  Alexander  Wise 

Sergeant  shows  that  she  combined  the  beauty  of  her  mother 
and  of  her  grandmother  Spencer.  She  was  born  September  24, 
1817.  in  Philadelphia,  and  died  at  the  birth  of  her  fourth  child, 
at  "Only,"  Accomack  County,  Virginia.  October  14,  1850.  She 
was  buried  in  Philadelphia. 

Her  father,  John  Sergeant,  LL.  D..  one  of  America's  fore- 
most statesmen,  was  born  in  Philadelphia.   December  5,  1779, 


260 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


graduated  at  Princeton  College  in  1 795 ;  was  admitted  to  the 
Philadelphia  Bar  in  1799,  and  appointed  commissioner  of  bank- 
ruptcy by  President  Jefferson  in  1801.  He  served  in  the 
Pennsylvania  state  legislature  from  1808  to  1810,  inclusive,  and 
in   Congress    from    1815-23,    1827-29,   and    1837-42.      He  was 


HON.  JOHN   SERGEANT 

Viee-Presiilential    Candidate.      Minister    to    Mexico    and    Russia 

Pinxit  T.  Sully 


especially  active  in  promoting  the  Missouri  Compromise.  In 
1826  he  was  one  of  the  two  envoys  sent  to  the  Panama  Congress 
by  President  John  Ouincy  Adams;  in  1830  he  was  president 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Convention:  and  in  1832  was  the  nominee 
for  the  vice-presidency  on  the  ticket  with  Henry  Clay.  In  1841 
he  was  tendered  and  declined  appointment  as  Minister  to  St. 
James,  but  later  accepted  appointment  as  Minister  to  Mexico. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         261 

He  died  in  Philadelphia,  No\'ember  25,  1852,  and  a  day  of 
public  mourning  was  officially  declared  by  the  city.  Several  fine 
portraits  of  him  are  extant — one  by  T.  Sully. 

His  select  speeches  were  published.  Philadelphia,  1832,  8  vo., 
and  a  number  of  his  addresses,  etc.,  appeared  separately.  For 
a  more  extended  sketch  of  John  Sergeant,  see  "Elogium  on  Hon. 
John  Sergeant."  by  William  ]\I.  Meredith,  1853.  8  vo. ;  ''Horace 
Binney's  Remarks  to  the  Bar  of  Philadelphia."  November,  1852; 
"Eminent  Philadelphians."  1859,  pp.  877-881  :  "Philadelphia 
Book,"  1836,  p.  1-1-2:  "D.  P.  Brown's  Forum,"  II..  pp.  205,  208, 
211,  218. 

Hon.  John  Sergeant  was  the  son  of  Hon.  Jonathan  Dickinson 
Sergeant,  born  1746,  died  1793,  and  ^Margaret  Spencer,  born 
1759,  died  1787.  who  were  married  in  1775,  and  had  seven 
children : 

1.  Sarah  Sergeant,  born  in  1778.  and  married,  in  1801, 
Rev.  Samuel  Aliller.  D.  D.,  leaving  descendants. 

2.  John  Sergeant,  subject  of  this  sketch. 

3.  Henry  Sergeant,  born  1782;    died  1824. 

4.  Judge  Thomas  Sergeant,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Pennsylvania,  twin  brother  of  Henry.  He  married,  in 
1812,  Sarah  Bache,  the  granddaughter  of  Benjamin 
Franklin. 

5.  Elizabeth  Sergeant,  born  1784;    died  1845. 

6.  Jonathan  Sergeant,  born  1786:    died  1786. 

7.  Elihu  Spencer  Sergeant,  born  1787;  died  1854.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Fox  Norris  and  left  descendants. 

Hon.  Jonathan  Dickinson  Sergeant,  whose  portrait  is  extant, 
was  the  first  Attorney-General  of  Pennsylvania  after  the 
independence  of  the  Colony  was  declared,  was  a  member  of  the 
first  United  States  Congress,  and  secretary  of  the  New  Jersey 
Convention.  He  was  a  celebrated  lawyer  and  a  philanthropist 
of  note.  He  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  Sergeant,  who  died  in 
1777.  and  Abigail  Dickinson. 

Jonathan  Sergeant  was  a  merchant  of  means,  surveyor,  and 
first    Treasurer    of    Newark,    N.    J.,    whose    four    ancestors    in 


262 


Col.    IOHX  WISE 


succession  were  named  Jonathan  Sergeant.  The  first  of  these 
four  Jonathans  took  the  Freeman's  oath  in  Bran  ford,  Conn.,  in 
1644.  and  died  in  1651.  His  son  was  baptized  in  Xew^  Haven 
and  moved  to  New  Jersey  in  1667,  becoming  one  of  the  founders 
of  Newark. 


HON.  JONATHAN   DICKINSON   SERGEANT 

First  Attornej'-General  of   Pennsylvania 
Pinxit  T.   Sully 

The  fourth  of  these  Jonathans  was  born  in  Newark  in  17  lO, 
and  died  at  Stockbridge.  ]\Iass..  in  1747.  His  wife  was  named 
Hannah.  He  was  for  fifteen  years  missionary  to  the  Housa- 
tonick  Indians  and  pubHshed  a  letter  on  the  Indians  in  1743. 
(See  Hopkins's  "Memoirs  of  the  Housatonick  IncHans.") 
When  he  established  the  Stockbridge  Mission  he  abandoned  his 
tutorship  at  Yale  College.  (See  "Life  of  John  Brainerd,"  by 
Rev.  Thos.  Brainerd,  pp.  72-77.) 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         263 

Abigail  Dickinson,  the  wife  of  the  fifth  Jonathan  Sergeant, 
who  was  the  son  of  the  missionary  or  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Sergeant,  was  born  in  1711.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Jonathan  Dickinson  and  Joanna  Melwyn. 

The  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson  was  born  at  Hatfield,  Mass., 
April  22,  1688,  and  died  in  1747.  Graduating  from  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1706,  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  Fairfield,  Conn., 
September  20,  1709,  he  was  for  thirty  years  the  minister  of  the 
First  Church  in  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  and  was  reputed  to  be 
the  leading  Presbyterian  divine  in  America.  His  ministry  ex- 
tended to  Rahway,  Westfield,  Connecticut  Farms,  and  Spring- 
field. In  1846  he  was  elected  the  first  president  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  (now  Princeton  University),  in  the  creation  of 
which  he  bore  a  leading  part.  He  wrote  a  number  of  theological 
works  between  1736  and  1746.  A  third  edition  of  his  "Familiar 
Letters  Upon  Important  Subjects  in  Religion"  was  published  at 
Edinburg  in  1757,  12  mo.,  and  a  collection  of  a  number  of  his 
writings  was  issued  in  the  same  place  in  1793,  8  vo.  (See 
Pierson's  Sermon  on  His  Death,  preface  to  "Sermons,"  Edin. 
Ed.;  Chandler's  "Life  of  Johnson";  Allen's  Amer.  Biog.  Diet.) 
His  reason  for  establishing  Princeton  College  was  because  of 
his  sympathy  for  David  Brainerd,  who  was  denied  his  degree 
by  the  authorities  of  Yale  College.  (See  "Life  of  John 
Brainerd,"  p.  56.)  It  is  said  that  the  first  charter  granted  by 
Gov.  James  Hamilton,  afterwards  renewed  by  Governor  Belcher, 
was  drawn  up  in  Dickinson's  house.  (Ibid.,  pp.  56,  86.)  He 
and  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  of  Newark,  and  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Pemberton.  of  the  city  of  New  York,  constituted  the  clerical 
correspondents  of  the  "Society  for  Propagating  Christian 
Knowledge."  Dr.  Bellamy  spoke  of  him  as  the  "great  Dickin- 
son." (Ibid.,  p.  86.)  His  portrait  may  be  seen  in  Nassau  Hall, 
Princeton  College. 

Margaret  Spencer,  the  wife  of  Hon.  Jonathan  Dickinson 
Sergeant,  was  born  January  5,  1759,  and  died  June  17,  1787. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Elihu  Spencer  and  Joanna  Eaton, 
who  were  married  October  15,  1750,  and  who  are  both  buried 
in  Trenton,  N.  J.  Her  portrait  shows  her  to  have  been  a 
beautiful  woman. 


264  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Elihii  Spencer,  D.  D.,  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  was  born  February 
12,  1721,  and  died  December  27,  1784.  He  was  the  son  of 
Isaac  Spencer,  of  Haddam,  Conn.,  and  Mary  Selden.  Isaac 
Spencer  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Spencer  and  Miss  Willing,  and 
Samuel  was  the  son  of  Gerard  or  Jared  Spencer,  who  was  born 
in  Bedfordshire  in  1610.  married  Hannah,  and  came  to  America 


JONATHAN    DICKINSON 
First    President    Princeton   College 


ISS. 


in  1638,  with  four  of  his  brothers,  settling  first  in  Lynn,  Mas 
and  afterwards  in  East  Haddam,  Conn.  The  immigrant 
brothers  were  the  sons  of  Michael  Spencer  of  Bedfordshire. 
England,  wlio  married  Elizabeth  of  Bedfordshire  about  1563, 
and  he  was  the  son  of  John  Spencer  and  Ann.  John  Spencer 
of  Bedfordshire  died  June  9,  1568.  (See  "Colonial  Families." 
Emory,  p.   164.) 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         265 

The  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer  was  a  brother  of  Gen.  Joseph  Spencer, 
of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and  Maj.  Israel  Spencer. 

The  eldest  brother  among  the  five  immigrants  was  John 
Spencer,  a  large  landholder,  a  magistrate,  a  member  of  the 
General  Court,  and  a  high  military  officer  in  Watertown,  now 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  from  1634  to  1638.  He  returned  to  England 
in  1638,  leaving  no  descendants  on  this  side.  William  Spencer, 
the  second  brother,  also  settled  in  Cambridge,  where  he  was  a 
landed  proprietor  and  member  of  the  General  Court.  He  later 
removed  to  Connecticut  where  he  died,  leaving  numerous  de- 
scendants, among  whom  was  Ambrose  Spencer,  Chief  Justice 
of  New  York.  Thomas,  the  third  brother,  died  in  Haddam, 
where  he  lived,  in  1685.  Ichabod  S.  Spencer,  D.  D.,  one  time 
(about  1860)  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  and  Hon.  Joshua  A.  Spencer,  of  Utica  (about  1860), 
were  among  his  descendants.  The  fourth  brother,  Jared  or 
Gerard  above  mentioned,  originally  settled  with  his  brothers 
William  and  John  in  Cambridge,  and  removed  not  long  after- 
wards to  Connecticut,  wiiere  he  became  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  the  town  of  Haddam.  He  died  in  1685  (Sprague's  Annals, 
Vol.  III.,  p.  165).  He  was  the  maternal  grandfather  of  John 
and  David  Brainerd,  consequently  the  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer  was 
a  second  cousin  and  playmate  of  the  famous  Presbyterian  mis- 
sionaries of  the  eighteenth  century.  Graduating  from  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1746,  in  the  class  with  one  of  them,  John  Brainerd, 
Elihu  Spencer  went  as  a  missionary  to  the  Six  Nations,  under 
the  direction  of  David  Brainerd,  then  of  Boston.  When 
Spencer  and  his  single  companion.  Job  Strong,  were  sent  out 
among  the  Indians  by  the  Society  for  Propagating  Christian 
Knowledge,  it  was  intended  that  they  should  journey  with 
Brainerd  to  the  Susquehanna  River  country.  Governor  Belcher 
wrote  that  they  "should  have  all  his  assistance  and  encourage- 
ment, by  letters  to  the  King's  government  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York,  and  his  letters  to  the  Sachems  of  those  tribes." 
("Life  of  John  Brainerd,"  p.   147.) 

The  mission  of  Spencer  and  Strong  failed,  and  in  the  spring, 
instead  of  going  to  the  Susquehanna,  they  returned  to  New 
England,    and    spent    the    summer    in    Northampton    in    study. 


266 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


Spencer  was  ordained  by  a  Council  in  Boston,  in  September, 
1748,  and  again  sent  to  establish  a  mission  among  the  Six 
Nations,  "at  a  place  called  by  the  Indians  Onohanquanga,  about 
180  miles  west  of  Albany,"  in  the  Oneida  country.  His  second 
mission  also  failed,  but  through  no  fault  of  his  own.  His 
interpreter  was  the  wife  of  a  fanatic  Englishman  who  opposed 


MARGARET  SPENCER 

Wife  of  Hon.   Jonathan   Dickinson   Sergeant 


Spencer's  views,  and  the  woman  herself  was  too  indolent  and 
obstinate  to  aid  him  in  conversing  with  the  Indians.  After  six 
months  of  fruitless  endeavor,  Spencer,  much  discouraged, 
abandoned  his  efforts  among  the  Oneidas  in  the  spring  of  1749. 
February  7,  1750,  he  was  settled  in  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  as  the 
successor  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson.  His  daughter  sub- 
sequently married  the  grandson  of  Dickinson,  as  we  have  seen. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         267 

October  15,  1750,  Spencer  married  Joanna  Eaton.  He  was 
pastor  at  Elizabethtown  six  years,  and  held  the  office  of  Trustee 
of  Princeton  College  from  1752  to  his  death  in  1784.  In  1756 
he  removed  from  Elizabethtown  to  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  and 
occupied  a  church  there  two  years.  During  the  French  War  he 
served  as  chaplain  in  the  army.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he 
returned  to  New  Jersey  and  labored  some  time  in  the  congrega- 
tions of  Shrewsbury,  Middletown  Point,  Shark  River,  and 
Amboy.  In  1764  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  sent 
him  with  the  Rev.  Alexander  McWhorter  on  a  mission  to  North 
Carolina.  Soon  after  his  return  from  that  colony  he  settled 
at  St.  George's,  Del.,  succeeding  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  who  was 
transferred  to  New  York.  After  five  years  he  was  called  to 
Trenton.  In  the  Revolutionary  struggle  he  took  an  active  part, 
and  was  again  sent  to  North  Carolina,  this  time  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  to  preach  the  revolution  and  exert  his  great 
influence  among  the  people  to  whom  he  was  so  well  known,  to 
win  over  the  wavering  and  lukewarm  to  the  patriot  cause.  This 
extraordinary  mission  was  well  performed.  The  Tories  hated 
Spencer  and  once  burned  a  part  of  his  library.  They  especially 
resented  his  activities  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  among  the 
Carolina  Scotch  Presbyterians,  for  they  appreciated  how  great 
was  his  influence  among  them.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania 
conferred  on  him  the  title  of  D.  D.  in  1782.  He  died  at 
Trenton,  December  27,  1784,  and  the  following  epitaph  may  be 
read  on  his  tombstone  in  the  grounds  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  at  Trenton:  **He  possessed  fine  genius,  great 
vivacity,  and  eminent,  active  piety."  If  not  especially  noted  as 
a  student  and  scholar,  he  was  reputed  to  be  a  man  of  great 
energy  and  executive  ability. 

John  Brainerd's  sister  Jerusha  married  Joseph  Spencer, 
colonel  in  the  French  War,  brigadier-general  Continental  Army, 
major-general  American  Army  of  the  Revolution,  and  member 
of  the  Continental  Congress,  who  was  a  descendant  of  Isaac 
Spencer,  and  therefore  a  kinsman  of  Elihu  Spencer.  Dr.  Joseph 
Spencer,  son  of  General  Spencer,  emigrated  to  Wood  County, 
Virginia,  in  1794,  and  settled  near  Marietta,  on  the  Ohio  River. 
Dr.  Spencer  left  a  family  of  eleven  children  and  no  doubt  there 
are  now  some  of  his  descendants  in  Virginia. 


268  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Joanna  l^aton,  the  wife  of  Rev.  Elihti  Spencer,  was  born  in 
1728,  and  died  November  1,  1791.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
John  Eaton  who  with  his  wife,  Joanna  Ward  well,  is  buried  in 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  Shrewsbury,  X.  J.,  to  which  town  they 
migrated  from  Massachusetts. 

John  Eaton  was  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Jerusha  Eaton,  and 
Joanna  Wardwell  was  the  daughter  of  Joseph  Wardwell  and  his 
wife  Sarah.  The  parents  of  Joseph  Wardwell  were  Eliakim 
Wardwell  of  Boston,  who  was  born  in  1634,  and  Lydia  Perkins. 
Eliakim  Wardwell  was  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Ward- 
well  of  Boston,  and  Lydia  Perkins  was  the  daughter  of  Isaac 
Perkins,  a  noted  Puritan.  The  Wardwell  family  owned  ex- 
tensive tracts  of  land  near  the  Shrewsbury  River  in  New  Jersey, 
not  far  from  the  present  site  of  Long  Branch.  The  first  monthly 
meeting  of  Quakers  in  the  province  of  New  Jersey,  by  families 
from  New  England,  was  held  at  Shrewsbury  in  1666.  Eliakim 
Wardwell  was  a  member  of  that  meeting. 

Thomas  Wardwell,  above  mentioned,  was  also  a  Puritan  and 
Freeman  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts.  He  lived  in  Boston, 
where  on  November  23,  1634,  his  son  Eliakim  w^as  baptized. 
The  latter  removed  to  Hampton  about  the  year  1659.  It  is 
not  knowai  at  what  time  he  embraced  the  Quaker  faith,  but  on 
April  8,  1662,  he  was  fined  for  absence  from  church  on  twenty- 
six  sabbaths.  In  December,  1662,  a  number  of  Quakers  were 
stripped  to  the  waist  and  driven  through  several  towns  while 
tied  to  a  cart  wheel,  and  whipped  in  each  tow'u.  At  Dover, 
Eliakim  Wardwell  reproved  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rayner  for  his 
brutality  in  laughing  at  the  cruel  punishment  of  his  friends, 
and,  as  the  narrative  goes,  "added  one  more  piece  of  insolence 
to  the  list  of  Quaker  outrages."  For  this  offense  he  was  put  in 
the  stocks.  Soon  after  this  event  Wardwell  harbored  and  en- 
tertained his  friend  Wenlock  Christison,  which  oft'ense  was  too 
grievous  to  be  o\'erlooked.  so  the  Rev.  Seaborn  Cotton,  truncheon 
in  hand,  led  a  party  of  order-loving  citizens  to  the  house  of 
Wardwell  some  miles  distant.  Christison  received  the  irate 
minister  and  demanded  "what  he  did  with  that  club  in  his 
hand."  Pastor  Cotton  replied,  saying,  "he  came  to  keep  the 
wolves    from   his    shee])."      Christison    was    immediately    seized 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         269 

and  dragged  away.  The  wolf  having  been  secured,  Wardwell, 
who,  as  head  of  the  family,  was  the  bell-wether  of  Mr.  Cotton's 
fliock  of  sheep,  was  summoned  to  court  and  fined.  To  satisfy 
the  fine,  his  saddle-horse  was  taken  from  him.  The  horse  was 
worth  fourteen  pounds,  and  as  that  sum  exceeded  the  fine,  a 
vessel  of  green  ginger  was  left  at  his  house  to  balance  the 
account.  But  the  green  ginger  speedily  went  the  way  of  the 
horse,  for  Wardwell  was  soon  fined  again  for  his  own  and  his 
wife's  absence  from  church,  and  in  time  was  rendered  almost 
penniless  by  repeated  seizures  of  his  property.  The  Rev.  Sea- 
born Cotton,  it  seems,  had  a  sharp  eye  for  business,  and  know- 
ing that  the  Wardwells  would  not  pay  for  preaching  they  did 
not  hear  and  would  not  countenance  by  theif  presence,  he 
shrewdly  sold  his  "rate" — the  sum  of  money  the  Wardwells 
were  obliged  by  law  to  contribute  to  his  support — to  one 
Nathaniel  Boulter.  How  large  a  share  this  dealer  in  lapsed 
church  tithes  charged  Cotton  we  shall  never  know.  We  do 
know,  however,  that  before  he  concluded  the  bargain  he  visited 
the  Wardwells  under  pretense  of  borrowing  a  little  corn  for 
himself,  which  they  willingly  let  him  have.  Having  thus 
surreptitiously  discovered  the  quantity  of  corn  in  the  crib,  and 
its  whereabouts,  he,  "Judas-like,"  went  and  bought  the  "rate" 
and  then  returned  and  "measured  the  corn  away  as  he  pleased." 

Lydia  Wardwell  was  married  to  Eliakim  Wardwell,  October 
17,  1659.  She  also  was  a  Puritan,  and  a  church  member,  to 
the  manor  born,  being  the  daughter  of  Isaac  Perkins,  who  was 
a  Freeman  of  the  Colony.  She  is  described  as  "a  young  and 
tender,  chaste  woman,"  and  was  no  doubt  such.  She  became  a 
Quaker,  with  her  husband,  and,  in  a  loyal,  wifely  way,  shared 
all  the  trials  and  sufi^erings  to  which  they  were  doomed  during 
the  few  years  of  their  married  life.  Four  of  her  friends  had 
been  hanged  and  scores  of  others  tortured  by  the  enlightened 
New  England  Church  fanatics.  The  burden  laid  upon  this 
bride  was  too  heavy  for  her  young  spirit,  and,  in  the  light  of 
a  subsequent  event,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  produced 
mental  aberration.  The  original  narrator  of  her  sad  experi- 
ences states  that  while  these  troubles  fell  thick  and  fast,  and 
heavily  upon  her,  she  was  repeatedly  sent  for  to  attend  church, 


270  Col.  JOHX  WISE 

and  "to  give  a  reason  for  her  separation  from  it."  Pestered 
and  goaded  by  these  demands,  and  probably  with  an  imagina- 
tion disordered  by  her  sufferings,  she  answered  a  summons  in 
May,  1663,  by  disrobing  her  body,  and  in  this  condition  enter- 
ing church.  "It  was  exceedingly  hard,"  the  narrator  says,  "to 
her  modest  and  shamefaced  disposition"  to  pass  through  this 
terrible  ordeal.  She  went  thus  as  a  "sign"  of  the  spiritual  naked- 
ness of  her  persecutors.  This  strange  event  occurred  at  the  church 
of  Newbury.  The  sequel  was  even  more  shocking.  The  poor 
soul  was  arrested  on  May  5.  1663,  was  sentenced  by  the  court 
at  Ipswich  to  "be  severely  whipped  and  pay  costs  and  fees  to 
the  marshal  of  Hampton  for  bringing  her,  ten  shillings,  six 
pence  and  fees,  two  shillings,  six  pence."  In  accordance  with 
the  sentence  "she  was  tied  to  the  fence  post  of  the  tavern 
.  stripped  from  her  waist  upwards,  with  her  naked 
breasts  to  the  splinters  of  the  posts,  and  then  sorely  lashed 
witli  twenty  or  thirty  cruel  stripes."  ("New  England  Judged," 
pp.  376-377.  Eor  account  of  the  Wardwells  also  see  "The 
Quaker  Invasion  of  Massachusetts,"  R.  P.  Hallowell,  pp.  99- 
104;  "Colonial  Families,"  Emory.)  The  family  baptismal 
silver  bowl  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Wardwell  has  been  handed 
down  to  the  sixth  generation. 

Having  traced  out  the  ancestry  of  John  Sergeant,  we  now 
return  to  Margaretta  Watmough,  his  wife. 

Margaretta  Watmough  was  born  in  1786,  married  in  1813, 
and  died  in  Philadelphia,  April  4,  1868.  Her  portrait  shows 
her  to  have  been  an  unusually  beautiful  woman.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  James  Horatio  Watmough,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
Anna  Carmick,  portraits  of  whom  are  also  in  existence. 

James  Horatio  Watmough  was  born  in  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  died  in  Philadelphia,  Januar}^  23,  1811.  He  was 
the  son  of  Capt.  Edward  Watmough,  of  the  British  Army, 
who  held  a  commission  in  the  Earl  of  Drumlanrig's  Regiment, 
and  Maria  Ellis,  who  were  married  January  30,  1748-9. 
Captain  Watmough  died  young  and  is  buried  at  his  home  in 
Halifax.  His  wife,  who  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  Dr. 
Edward  Ellis  and  Mary  Willard,  of  Boston,  also  died  young. 
Soon   after  her  death   Captain   ^^'atmough   was   ordered   away 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


271 


from  Halifax,  leaving  his  four  sons  with  their  mother's  family. 
The  third  son  died  shortly  after  his  father's  departure.  John, 
the  eldest,  entered  the  British  Army  and  was  killed  in  battle ; 
Edward  Ellis  Watmough,  the  second  son,  entered  the  Navy  and 
was  killed  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  a  friend's  pistol;  and 
James    Horatio    Watmough    remained    with    his    Aunt    Sarah 


MARGARETTA    WATMOUGH 

Wife  of  Hon.  John   Sergeant 

Pinxit  T.   Sully 


(Ellis)  Deschamps,  widow  of  Judge  Deschamps  of  Halifax, 
until  his  fourteenth  year,  at  which  time  he  was  adopted  by  his 
mother's  cousin,  Henry  Hope,  then  at  the  head  of  the  eminent 
banking  house  of  Hope  &  Co.,  of  Amsterdam,  Holland.  This 
Mr.  Hope  was  a  very  wealthy  man.  He  died  in  1811  in 
London,  where  his  home  was  at  that  time.  He  undertook  to 
educate  young  Watmough  and  to  do  for  him  as  he  would  have 


272  Col.  JOHX  WISE 

done  for  an  own  child,  alleging  his  affection  for  his  cousin, 
Maria,  the  boy's  mother,  as  the  motive  for  his  desire  to  do  all 
he  could  for  one,  at  least,  of  her  sons.  \\'atmongh's  good  aunt, 
perceiving  the  superior  advantages  Mr.  Hope  was  able  to  offer 
the  boy,  sent  James  to  her  childless  cousin,  who  fulfilled  his 
promises,  and,  taking  the  lad  to  Amsterdam,  gave  him  a 
thorough  mercantile  education  in  addition  to  the  usual  academic 
course,  intending  to  take  him  into  the  banking  firm  of  which,  he 
was  the  head.  It  is  said  that  it  was  also  Mr.  Hope's  intention 
to  make  James  Horatio  Watmough  his  heir,  and  that  he  was 
very  desirous  that  he  should  marry  Henrietta  Goddard,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  his  only  sister.  Harriet,  but.  as  the  boy  had 
only  the  affection  of  a  friend  for  her,  he  would  not  comply 
with  the  wishes  of  his  guardian.  Instead,  he  gratified  a  longing 
to  return  to  his  home  land.  Before  his  departure  ^Ir.  Hope 
provided  for  him  handsomely,  and  sent  him  to  Halifax  on  one 
of  his  own  ships.  Remaining  there  for  a  few  years  he  went 
to  Boston  when  the  Revolutionary  W^ar  was  near  an  end.  and 
thence  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  met  Anna  Carmick.  to  whose 
father  he  had  letters  of  introduction,  and  married  her.  Mr. 
Hope  then  enabled  him  to  enter  into  a  large  mercantile  house  of 
Cape  Francais,  in  the  W^est  Indies.  Tlie  first  son  was  named 
after  ]\Ir.  Hope,  who  settled  a  large  amount  of  money — many 
thousand  pounds  sterling — on  his  namesake,  allowing  the 
parents  to  draw  the  interest  during  their  lives.  ^Ir.  Watmough 
purchased  a  fine  tract  of  land,  on  which  he  built  a  splendid 
house,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  "Hope  Lodge."  Here  he 
resided  with  his  family  for  some  years.  He  died  January  23, 
1811.  Above  all  things  James  Horatio  Watmough  was  noted 
for  his  public  philanthropies.  He  was  also  noted  for  liberal 
gifts  to  his  friends  and  relations.  It  is  said  that  he  was  a  very 
elegant  and  accomplished  man.  speaking  six  languages  with 
great  fluency. 

His  children  were :    Henry   Hope,  who  died  young ;    ]^Iaria 
Ellis.  Margaretta,  John  Goddard,  and  Edward  Carmick. 

Maria   married   Joseph   Reed,    Esq.,    a   prominent   lawyer   of 
Philadelphia,   and   had   nine   children :     Edward,   the   youngest, 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


273 


married  j\Iaria  Chew  Nicklin,  a  sister  of  the  wife  of  Vice- 
President  Dallas,  and  granddaughter  of  Benjamin  Chew,  Chief 
Justice  of  Pennsylvania. 

Edward  Carmick  Watmough  was  a  lawyer.  He  left  one  son, 
William  Nicklin  Watmough,  and  three  daughters,  the  eldest  of 
whom  married  Ji-idge  Thayer,  and  the  second  Richard  Gilpin. 


JAMES   HORATIO   WATMOUGH 

Pinxit   T.    Sully 

William  married  Sarah  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Rear-Admiral 
Joshua  Ratoone  Sands,  U.  S.  Navy,  and  Eleanor  Ann  Crook. 
He  entered  the  Federal  Volunteer  Army  in  1861,  and  was 
wounded  in  front  of  Richmond,  while  serving  on  the  staff  of 
General  Meade.     In  1862  he  entered  the  Navy. 

Col.  John  Goddard  Watmough,  the  eldest  son,  was  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  Second  United  States  Artillery,  and  served  with 
great  gallantry  throughout  the  War  of   18i2,  being  wounded 


18 


274  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

and  breveted.  In  1816  he  resigned  his  commission,  settled 
at  "Hope  Lodge,"  which  he  inherited  from  his  father,  and 
married  Ellen,  daughter  of  Judge  Coxe  of  Philadelphia,  who 
died  in  ten  years.  In  1830  he  represented  his  district  in  Con- 
gress and  was  three  time  reelected.  While  in  Washington  he 
married  Matilda  Pleasonton,  daughter  of  Stephen  Pleasonton. 
Esq.,  fifth  auditor  of  the  Treasury,  and  a  nephew  of  Hon. 
Caesar  Rodney,  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Col.  Watmough  died,  in  Philadeljihia,  in  November,  1861.  By 
his  first  wife  he  had:  Edward  Coxe,  who  died  young,  Mary 
Ellen.  James  Horatio,  Pendleton  Gaines,  and  Catherine;  and 
by  his  second  wife:  John  Goddard,  Margaretta,  Mary  Williams, 
and  Anne  Caroline. 

Of  these  children,  James  Horatio  II.  was  for  many  years 
Paymaster-General,  U.  S.  Navy,  and  married  Emeline  G., 
daughter  of  George  and  Catherine  Muhlenberg  Sheaff,  of 
Philadelphia.  Mrs.  Sheaff  was  a  daughter  of  Frederick 
Augustus  Muhlenberg,  first  speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  brother  of  Gen.  Peter  Gabriel  Muhlenberg  of 
Revolutionary  fame.  Dr.  Henry  Melchoir  Muhlenl)erg,  the 
brother  of  Frederick  and  Peter,  was  the  founder  of  Lutheranism 
in  America.  His  wife  was  Anna,  daughter  of  Conrad  Weiser, 
the  Pennsylvania  statesman  and  Indian  diplomat  of  the  colonial 
era. 

Pendleton  C.  Watmough  was  a  captain  in  the  U.  S.  Navy, 
and  served  with  gallantry  in  the  Civil  War,  resigning  his  com- 
mission wlien  peace  was  restored.  He  married  Minnie  Merwin, 
daughter  of  George  Merwin.  and  granddaughter  of  Rufus 
Wood,  Governor  of  Ohio  and  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of 
that  State. 

John  Goddard  Watmough  II.,  a  prominent  broker  of  Phila- 
delphia, married  Carrie  Drexel,  daughter  of  Francis  M.  Drexel, 
the  eminent  Philadelphia  banker. 

(For  facts  as  to  the  Watmoughs  see  "Early  New  England 
People,"  Titcomb,  pp.  15,  27-29,  116,  117.) 

Maria  Ellis,  wife  of  Capt.  Edmund  Watmough.  and  mother 
of  James  Horatio  Watmough.  was  born  in  May,  1730.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Dr.  Edward  Ellis,  of  Boston,  and  Mary 
Willard. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         275 

Dr.  Edward  Ellis  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Robert  Ellis,  also  of 
Boston,  whose  lineage  is  most  interesting  and  clearly  defined. 

Dr.  Edward  Ellis,  who  was  born  in  1621,  and  died  April  23, 
1695,  came  to  New  England  from  Wales  prior  to  1652,  and 
married  in  Boston,  August  6,  1652,  Sarah,  the  daughter  of 
Robert  and  Susan  Blott.  Robert  Blott  came  to  Charleston. 
Mass.,  in  1634,  and  probably  removed  to  Concord,  Mass.,  as  a 
deed  recorded  in  Suffolk,  in  1648,  would  seem  to  indicate. 
Sarah  Blott,  his  daughter,  was  born  in  1631,  and  died  December 
18,  1811. 

At  the  time  of  the  marriage  of  his  daughter,  Robert  Blott 
lived  on  the  corner  of  Newbury  (now  Washington)  Street 
and  Blott's  Lane  (Boston).  The  latter  was  called  Blott's  Lane 
until  1708,  when  it  was  named  Winter  Street.  This  property 
was  interited  by  Dr.  Ellis,  and  the  corner  of  Newbury  and 
Winter  Streets  was  then  called  Ellis's  Corner  until  1732. 

Robert  Blott's  will,  in  which  his  son-in-law,  Edward  Ellis, 
is  named  as  executor,  is  a  matter  of  record.  (See  "Early  New 
England  People,"  Titcomb,  pp.  7-8. )  He  is  buried  in  the  Old 
Granaiy  Burying  Ground. 

There  are  also  many  interesting  records  extant  concerning 
the  Ellis  family. 

Dr.  Edward  Ellis,  "Chirurgeon,"  and  his  wife,  Sarah  Blott, 
had  ten  children  ;  among  whom  was  Robert,  born  September 
24,  1671,  whose  baptism  is  recorded  in  the  First  Church  in 
Boston. 

Robert  Ellis  was  also  a  surgeon,  and  served  as  such  in  the 
expedition  to  Port  Royal,  August  19,  1710. 

In  the  Suffolk  Register,  Book  22,  pp.  418-421,  we  read  that, 
on  account  of  Robert  Ellis  having  purchased  lands  on  Conduit 
Street,  he  is  to  have  one-half  share  in  the  conduit,  and  "liberty 
of  the  drawbridge  for  use  of  vessels." 

It  appears  that  Dr.  Ellis  was  a  merchant,  as  well  as  a 
physician.  His  name  appears  as  a  creditor  in  the  settlement  of 
some  thirty  or  more  estates  in  Boston.  He  married,  June  4, 
1698,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  James  and  Sarah  Pemberton,  of 
Boston.  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  died  September  11,  1737,  and  is 
also  buried  in  the  Old  Granary  Burying  Ground. 


276  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

They  had  eleven  children,  and  he  died  April  7,  1720.  His 
will  was  made  February  23,  1719,  and  probated  April  19,  1720. 
(For  copy  thereof  see  Titcomb,  p.  11.) 

His  eldest  child  was  Dr.  Edward  Ellis,  born  February  23, 
1698-9,  whose  baptism  is  recorded  in  the  Old  South  Church 
of  Boston.  He  inherited  his  mother's  estate,  she  surviving  her 
husband,  and  is  the  only  one  of  her  children  known  to  have 
left  descendants. 

In  the  list  of  those  who  received  "commissions  from  Governor 
Shirley  at  Louisburg  in  the  train  of  artillery,  sent  from  Massa- 
chusetts Province"  is  the  name  of  Edward  Ellis,  Esq.,  com- 
missioned surgeon-general  of  the  Massachusetts  Troops, 
February  19,  1^44  (N.  E.  Gen.  and  Ant.  Reg.,  Vol.  XXIV., 
p.  371)  ;  and  in  a  list  of  those  who  received  commissions  in  the 
Third  Massachusetts  Regiment,  "whereof  Jere  Moulton,  Esq., 
is  Colonel,"  Edward  Ellis,  Esq.,  is  named  as  having  been  com- 
missioned major  and  captain  of  the  3d  Company,  February  25, 
1744.  (Ibid.,  p.  376.)  October  12,  1743,  he  was  prepared  for 
membership  in  the  First  Lodge  in  Boston  by  the  Provincial 
Grand  Master,  and  was  accepted  October  26th,  and  made  a 
Mason  November  9,  1743.  His  fine  brick  house  was  destroyed 
by  fire  February  7,  1752.  (Drake's  "History  of  Boston.")  He 
married  Mary,  daughter  of  Daniel  Willard  and  Mary  Mills, 
and  the  eldest  of  their  three  children  (all  daughters)  was  Maria 
Ellis,  wife  of  Capt.  Edmund  Watmough. 

Dr.  Edward  Ellis  married,  second,  the  widow  Haliburton, 
who  died  in  Newport,  Nova  Scotia.  He  died  in  Amsterdam, 
Holland. 

The  record  of  the  \\'illard  family,  which  was  allied  with  the 
Ellis  family  through  the  marriage  of  Dr.  Edward  Ellis  II.  and 
Mary  Willard,  is  also  interesting.      (Titcomb,  pp.  56-65.) 

Daniel  Willard,  son  of  Maj.  Simon  Willard  and  Mary 
Dunster,  was  born  in  Concord,  Mass.,  December  29,  1658.  He 
lived  in  Sudbury,  and  removed  to  Charleston,  where  he  married, 
first,  December  6,  1683,  Hannah,  daughter  of  Capt.  John  and 
Mehitable  Cutler  of  that  place.  His  first  wife  died  February 
22,  1690-1,  aged  thirty  years,  and  then  he  married,  January  4, 
1692-3,   Mary,   daughter  of  Jonathan  Mills  and   Mary   Shove, 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         277 

of  Braintree,  now  Ouincy.  \\'illard  moved  to  Braintree,  and 
later  to  Boston,  being  in  trade  there.  Of  the  ten  children, 
Daniel,  the  eldest,  married  Abigail,  daughter  of  Rev.  Cotton 
J\lather.  Mary,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Daniel  \\'illard  and  'Slary 
Mills,  married  Dr.  Edward  Ellis  II. 

The  name  of  Dunster  is  an  ancient  one  in  England,  especially 
in  Lancashire.  It  signifies  a  dweller  upon  a  dun,  or  down,  and 
is  of  Saxon  origin.  There  is  in  Somersetshire,  England,  a 
market  town  and  a  castle  by  that  name. 

Henry  Dunster,  the  first  of  the  name  in  this  country,  and  the 
first  president  of  Har\'ard  College,  came  from  England  to 
America  in  the  year  1640.  The  only  known  reference  to  the 
place  of  his  birth  is  found  in  a  letter  of  his  own,  dated  February, 
1648,  and  addressed  to  Ch.  Ravius,  Professor  of  Oriental  Lan- 
guages in  London.  In  this  letter  he  says :  "Ego  enim  Lan- 
castrensis  Sum"  (for  I  am  from  Lancashire).  A  letter  to 
President  Dunster  from  his  father,  Henr\'e  Dunster,  is  still 
extant,  and  is  dated  "from  Balehoult,  this  20th  of. March, 
1640."  "Balehoult,"  says  Mr.  Samuel  Dunster  in  his  "Henry 
Dunster  and  His  Descendants,"  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
name  of  a  private  gentleman's  residence  in  Bury,  Lancashire. 
This  letter  indicates  that  the  father  of  Henry  Dunster  was  a 
man  of  liberal  education.  In  the  letter,  ]\Ir.  Dunster  mentions 
three  sons,  Richard,  Thomas,  and  Robert,  and  two  or  more 
daughters.  Elizabeth,  the  only  daughter  mentioned  bv  name 
in  the  letter,  came  to  New  England  and  married  Major  Simon, 
son  of  Richard  and  Margery  Willard,  hereinbefore  mentioned. 
]\Iaj.  Simon  Willard's  second  wife  was  Mary  Dunster,  a  cousin 
of  his  first  wife,  and  IMary  Dunster  was  the  mother  of  Daniel 
Willard,  father  of  Mary  Willard,  who  married  Dr.  Edward 
Ellis. 

We  should  here  record  something  of  the  life  of  Alary  Willard, 
who  was  the  eldest  of  a  large  family  of  children  dependent  upon 
her  widowed  mother,  Alary  (Mills)  Willard. 

Attracted  by  her  great  beauty,  a  Mr.  Cuyler  of  the  West 
Indies,  who  had  come  to  Boston  in  search  of  health  and  who 
was  boarding  at  her  mother's  home,  prevailed  upon  the  latter 
to  let  him  marrv  Alarv  Willard,  though  she  was  but  a  child. 


27S  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

He  promised  not  to  return  to  the  West  Indies  without  Mrs. 
Willard's  permission,  or  to  take  his  young  wife  aw-ay  without 
her  consent.  He  was  a  young  man  of  agreeable  manners  and 
good  temper,  and  Mrs.  Willard,  who  had  no  other  means  of 
providing  for  her  family  but  those  accruing  from  the  business 
of  the  boarding  house,  probably  reasoned  that  she  ought  not  to 
refuse  so  eligible  a  provision  for  her  daughter,  consented,  and 
they  were  married. 

]Mr.  Cuyler  failed  to  keep  his  promises,  however,  for  sud- 
denly summoned  home  at  the  death  of  his  father,  he  insisted 
upon  taking  his  young  wife  with  him,  but  solemnly  promised  to 
bring  her  back,  and  made  all  his  arrangements  to  take  up  a 
permanent  residence  in  New  England.  But  if  indeed  he  was 
sincere  in  this  promise  he  was  not  able  to  keep  it.  On  arriving 
at  his  home,  he  did  not  take  his  young  wife  to  his  mother,  but, 
telling  her  he  must  prepare  the  latter  to  hear  of  his  marriage, 
he  bore  his  wife  to  a  plantation  of  his  own  in  the  mountains, 
and  left  her  in  charge  of  his  slaves  until  he  should  come  back 
to  take  her  to  his  home.  A  longer  period  of  time  than  she  had 
contemplated  w^ould  be  required  rolled  on,  heavily  enough  to 
the  poor  girl  in  her  remote  and  lonely  situation.  Whether  her 
husband  had  feared  to  inform  his  mother  of  his  marriage,  and 
put  off  from  day  to  day  and  week  to  week  the  difificult  task  of 
telling  her,  or  whether  he  had  entered  into  the  gaieties  and  dis- 
sipation of  town  life,  she  did  not  know;  he  wrote  her  some- 
times, it  is  true,  but  said  nothing  in  his  letters  of  removing  her 
from  her  solitude,  but  it  appeared  that  he  had  already  planned 
to  do  this  when  he  was  killed  while  riding  as  a  gentleman  jockey 
in  a  race.  The  information  of  this  sad  event  was  suddenly 
conveyed  to  his  wife  in  all  its  horrible  details,  and  the  shock- 
occasioned  the  i^remature  birth  of  her  child. 

It  appeared  that  young  Cuyler  had  told  his  mother  of  his 
marriage ;  for,  on  that  lady's  hearing  that  her  unknown 
daughter  had  given  l^irth  to  a  male  child,  she  dispatched  a 
fa\()rite  slave  with  orders  to  1)ring  mother  and  child  to  her 
residence  as  soon  as  the  former  should  be  able  to  tra^•el.  She 
was,  however,  so  ill  that  it  was  many  weeks  before  she  left  her 
bed ;    and  as  she  had  not  been  able  to  attend  to  her  child  her- 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         279 

self,  it  was  given  to  a  healthy  young  negress,  who  had  lately 
become  a  mother  also,  to  nurse.  When  she  became  sufficiently 
restored  to  her  former  health  to  bear  the  journey,  she  was 
taken  to  the  home  of  her  mother-in-law.  There,  all  w'as  strange, 
and  uncongenial,  separated  as  she  was  from  the  child  she  had 
borne,  but  whom,  being  unable  to  nurse,  she  had  hardly  seen. 
She  thought  longingly  of  her  distant  home  and  the  kind  mother 
she  had  so  thoughtlessly  bidden  adieu,  little  more  than  a  year 
since.  At  length,  seeing  her  pining  and  distress,  her  mother- 
in-law  consented  to  her  returning  to  her  own  mother ;  but  the 
fine  boy  child  must  remain,  for  he  was  the  sole  heir  of  a  great 
estate  and  must  be  reared  to  manhood  among  his  own  people. 
She  was  to  hear  of  him  often,  and,  while  welcome,  was  not 
urged  to  stay,  so  she  returned,  on  the  first  ship  that  left  the 
island,  to  the  arms  and  hearts  of  her  mother  and  family.  Her 
husband's  mother  was  true  to  her  word.  She  improved  ever}- 
opportunity  that  offered  to  inform  the  young  mother  of  the 
welfare  of  her  child,  and  to  remit  sums  of  money  to  her  until 
her  marriage  with  Dr.  Edward  Ellis.  She  was  still  young  when 
she  remarried.  Her  child  by  Mr.  Cuyler  died  in  infancy.  Her 
three  children  by  Dr.  Ellis  were  Maria,  Sarah,  and  Elizabeth. 

Maria  married  Capt.  Edmund  Watmough,  as  we  have  seen. 
While  Dr.  Ellis  was  off  on  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  Cape  Breton 
Island,  on  the  Pepper rell  Expedition  of  which  he  was  surgeon- 
general,  his  wife  died  at  the  age  of  fifty  years. 

Mary  Mills,  the  wife  of  Daniel  Willard,  and  the  mother  of 
Mary  Willard,  who  married  Dr.  Edward  Ellis,  came  of  a  dis- 
tinguished family.  John  Mills,  her  ancestor,  came  to  New 
England  probably  in  the  fleet  with  Winthrop,  as  among  the 
members  of  the  first  church  his  name  is  number  thirty-three  and 
that  of  his  wife  Susannah  is  next.  His  daughters,  Joy  and 
Recompense,  were  baptized  in  October,  1630,  and  their  names 
were  the  first  on  the  church  records. 

John  Mills  was  admitted  Freeman  March  6,  1632.  Residing 
about  ten  years  in  Boston,  he  removed  to  Braintree  (Ouincv), 
of  which  town  he  was  Clerk  in  1653.  Eorty-four  acres  of  land 
at  Mount  Wollaston  was  granted  him  bv  the  town  of  Boston, 


280 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


there  being  six  persons  in  his  family.  He  and  his  wife, 
Susannah,  were  recommended,  December  5,  1641,  by  the 
Church  in  Boston  to  the  Church  in  Braintree. 

Their    children    were    Susannah,    Joy,     Recompense,    John, 
Jonathan,  James,  and  Mary. 


ANNE  CARMICK 

Wife  of  James  Horatio  Watmough 
Pinxit  T.   Sullv 


Susannah,  the  mother,  died  December  10,  1675,  aged  eighty 
years.  John  Mills,  her  husband,  died  in  1678.  In  his  will  he 
speaks  of  having  "now  fallen  into  years."  Judging  from  the 
language  of  ardent  piety  used  in  the  introduction,  he  was  an 
eminently  good  man.  He  mentions  his  son,  John,  and  his 
daughters,  Mary  Hawkins,  and  Susannah  Davis.  He  recom- 
mends his  son  John  to  bring  up  one  of  his  own  sons  to  the  work 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         281 

of  the  ministry,  which  was,  he  says,  "the  employment  of  my 
predecessors  to  the  third,  if  not  the  fourth,  generation." 

Savage  says :  "The  grandson,  Edward,  seems  not  to  have 
obeyed  the  will  of  his  ancestor,  but  perhaps  the  fourth  gen- 
eration was  more  regardful,  as  Jonathan,  who  graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  in  1723,  was  a  minister." 


STEPHEN    CARMICK 
Piiixit  Benj.   West 

John,  the  eldest,  married  Mary,  sister  of  Rev.  George  Shove, 
the  third  minister  in  Taunton.  She  is  mentioned  in  "Marshall's 
Diary,"  as  a  "precious  saint." 

The  children  of  John  Mills  and  Mary  Shove  were:  Eliza- 
beth;   Sarah;    John,  who  married  Hannah  ;    Jonathan, 

who  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Edmund  and  Sarah  Sheffield 
of  Braintree;    Edward,  who  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 


282  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

1685;  Susannah;  Alary,  who  married  Daniel,  son  of  Maj. 
Simon  Willard  and  Mary  Dunster  of  Boston ;  Nathaniel,  who 
married  Mary  Spear;  and  a  second  Susannah,  who  married 
Deacon  Jonathan,  son  of  John  and  Sarah   (Thayer)   Hay  ward. 

Having  completed  our  record  of  the  ancestry  of  James 
Horatio  Watmough,  which  must  be  conceded  to  be  most  inter- 
esting, we  now  return  to  that  of  Anne  Carmick,  his  wife.  She 
was  born  in  1757,  and  died  in  1827,  and  was  the  daughter 
of  Stephen  Carmick  and  Anna  C.  Kock,  whose  father  was 
Peter  Kock,  a  Swede. 

Peter  Kock  was  born  in  1704,  and  died  in  1749.  He  is 
buried  in  the  old  Swedes  Church  in  Philadelphia. 

Stephen  Carmick  was  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Philadelphia, 
and  an  intimate  personal  and  business  friend  of  James  Horatio 
W^atmough,  whom  he  introduced  to  Philadelphia  society  upon 
his  first  visit  to  that  city.  Carmick  was  one  of  the  signers  of 
the  famous  non-importation  act  of  1763.  His  portrait,  by  Sir 
Benjamin  West,  presents  the  likeness  of  a  most  distinguished 
man.  He  was  the  son  of  Peter  Carmick  and  Sarah  Hall.  The 
latter  was  the  daughter  of  Judge  Edward  Hall  of  Trenton, 
N.  J. 

So  much  for  the  ancestry  of  John  Sergeant,  a  brief  record 
of  whose  descendants  must  now  begin. 

John  Sergeant  and  Margaretta  W^atmough  were  married  in 
1813.     They  had  ten  children  as  follows: 

1.  Margaretta,  born  1814,  died  1886,  who  married,  in 
1840,  Gen.  George  Gordon  Meade,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
had  five  children:  1.  John  Sergeant  Meade,  2.  George 
Meade,  3.  Margaret  Butler  Meade,  4.  Spencer  Meade, 
and  5.   Sarah  Wise  Meade. 

1.  John  Sergeant  Meade  was  born  in  1841,  and  died  in 
1865. 

2.  George  Meade  married  Elizabeth  M.  Lewis  and  had 
issue:  Phoebe  IVIeade,  born  1884;  George  Gordon 
Meade;  ^Margaretta  Sergeant  Meade,  died  in  1879; 
Edith  ATeade;  Elizabeth  Meade;  Margaretta  S. 
Meade,  died  1886;    and  Sah'adora  S.  Meade. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         283 

3.  Spencer  Meade  married  Fannie  C.  Florence,  and 
had  issue :  Sarah  Meade,  Florence  Meade,  Spencer 
Meade,  and  Margaretta  Sergeant  Meade. 

5.  Sarah  Wise  Meade,  born  September  26,  1851;  died 
January  24,  1913;  married,  April  10,  1872,  John 
Baldwin  Large,  the  son  of  Robert  Hartshorne  Large 
and  Mary  Large.  They  had  issue:  1.  George 
Gordon  Meade  Large,  born  August  26,  1873;  2. 
Robert  Hartshorne  Large,  born  October  31,  1875 
3.  Margaretta  Sergeant  Large,  born  February  27 
1877;     4.    Mary    Large,    born    December    6,    1878 

5.  Henrietta  Meade  Large,  born  October   12,   1880 

6.  John    Baldwin    Large,    born    August    18,    1882 

7.  William  Mifflin  Large,  born  August  12.  1884, 
died  July  15.  1885;  8.  Spencer  Sergeant  Large,  born 
November  30,  1887.  Of  these  children,  George 
Gordon  Meade  Large  married  Elizabeth  Whelen 
Miller,  February  14,  1901,  and  has  issue;  George 
Gordon  Meade  Large,  Jr.,  born  June  21,  1902; 
James  Mifflin  Large,  born  May  15,  1904;  and  Henry 
Whelen  Large,  born  July  6,  1906.  Robert  Harts- 
horne Large  married  Mary  Wilmer  Reakirt,  April 
2,  1902,  and  has  issue:  Margaret  Lardner  Large, 
born  February  1.  1903;  William  Mifflin  Large,  born 
November  21,  1904;  and  Sarah  Meade  Large,  born 
March  21,  1906.  Alargaret  Sergeant  Large  married 
Joseph  Harrison,  April  23,  1898,  and  has  issue: 
Joseph  Harrison,  Jr.,  born  June  9,  1899;  Sarah 
Meade  Harrison,  born  July  29,  1900;  Margaret 
Large  Harrison,  born  December  16,  1901  ;  Maud 
Stovell  Harrison,  born  February  10,  1904;  Mary 
Large  Harrison,  born  December  10,  1907;  and  John 
Large  Harrison,  born  December  23,  1908.  Mary 
Large  married  Charles  Pemberton  Fox,  May  14, 
1906,  and  has  issue:  John  Large  Fox,  born  February 
14,  1908,  and  Charles  Pemberton  Fox,  Jr.,  born 
April  12,  1909.  Henrietta  Meade  Large  married 
May  Stevenson  Easby,  April  29,   1916. 


284  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

2.  Anna  Sergeant,  the  second  child  of  Hon.  John  Sergeant, 
was  born  July  10.  1815,  and  died  June  21,  1873.  She 
married  Benjamin  Gerhard,  of  Philadelphia,  born  1812. 
died  June  18.  1864.  and  had  issue:  1.  John  Sergeant 
Gerhard.  2.  William  Gerhard,  and  3.  Dr.  George  Smith 
Gerhard,  all  of  Philadelphia. 

1.  John  Sergeant  Gerhard  married  Alaria  Pepper  and 
had  issue :  John  Sergeant  Gerhard.  Albert  Gerhard, 
Sarah  Gerhard,  and  Annie  Gerhard. 

2.  William  Gerhard  was  born  September  9.  1847,  and 
died  ^lay  9.  1914.  He  graduated  from  the  United 
States  Military  Academy,  served  in  the  Army,  re- 
signed, and  married  Sally  Lyle  Howell,  born  March 
20,  1855,  and  died  March  21.  1879.  and  had  issue: 
1.  Sarah  Gerhard,  deceased,  and  2.  Dr.  Arthur 
Howell  Gerhard.  Dr.  Arthur  Howell  Gerhard,  now 
resident  in  Philadelphia,  was  born  April  15,  1877. 
He  married,  December  9,  1903,  Mary  Rebecca  Coxe, 
daughter  of  Brinton  Coxe  and  Maria  Middleton 
Fisher,  and  they  have  issue :  Frances  Fisher  Gerhard, 
born  September  16,  1904;  William  George  Gerhard, 
born  October  9,  1905  ;  Anna  Rebecca  Gerhard,  born 
May  26,  1907;  Arthur  Howell  Gerhard.  Jr..  born 
November  7,  1909;  and  Mary  Coxe  Gerhard,  born 
July  29,  1915. 

3.  Dr.  George  Smith  Gerhard,  the  third  son  and  child 
of  Anna  Sergeant,  was  born  January  19,  1849.  He 
is  a  distinguished  surgeon  and  lives  in  Philadelphia, 
unmarried. 

3.  Sarah  Sergeant,  born  1818;  died  1850;  married 
Henr}^  A.  Wise.  (See  Chapter  XI\\.  ef  scq..  for  their 
descendants.) 

4.  Maria  Sergeant,  born  January  17,  1820;  died  May  25, 
1908;  married,  June  29,  1854,  Harrison  Smith,  the  son 
of  John  C.  Smith  and  ]\Iatilda  WikofT,  and  had  issue : 
Margaretta    Sergeant    Smith,    born    1855,    died    1855; 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         285 

Maria  Sergeant  Smith,  born  1857;  Maude  Harrison 
Smith,  born  1858;  Katherine  Sergeant  Smith,  born 
1861  ;  and  Harrison  Smith,  born  1862.  Maria  Sergeant 
Smith  married  J.  Gibson  McCall.     They  have  no  issue. 

5.  John  Sergeant,  born  1821  ;    died  1822. 

6.  John  Sergeant,  born  1822;    died  1854. 

7.  Spencer  Sergeant,  born  1824;    died  1850. 

8.  Katherine  Sergeant,  born  1825;  died  1909;  married 
Henry  A.  Cram,  of  New  York  City,  and  had  issue : 
John  Sergeant  Cram,  who  married  Clara  Brice,  and 
has  issue :  Harry  Spencer  Cram,  Clarice  Brice  Cram, 
and  John  Sergeant  Cram,  Jr. ;  Harry  Spencer  Cram, 
deceased,  who  married  Charlotte  Winthrop  and  had 
issue :  Charlotte  Winthrop  Cram,  who  married  Robert 
Ludlow  Fowler,  of  which  union  there  is  one  child, 
Katherine  Angela  Fowler ;  Margaretta  Cram,  deceased ; 
Lily  Clarence  Cram ;  Henrietta  Cram,  who  married  J. 
Woodward  Haven,  of  New  York,  and  has  issue : 
Katherine  and  Ethel ;  Ethel  Latimer  Cram,  deceased ; 
and  Ellen  Sergeant  Cram,  died  in  infancy. 

9.  William  Sergeant,  born  August  29,  1829;  died  April 
11,  1865.  He  married  Eliza  Lawrence  Epsy,  daughter 
of  James  S.  Epsy  and  Mary  Harden  Pollard,  and  had 
issue:  John  Sergeant,  died  in  infancy,  Mary  Sergeant, 
Margaretta  Sergeant,  Louisa  Sergeant,  Sarah  Sergeant, 
and  Eliza  Sergeant.  Margaretta  Sergeant,  born  February 
24,  1856;  married,  November  27,  1878,  Alexander  James 
Dallas  Dixon,  son  of  Fitz  Eugene  Dixon  and  Catherine 
Dallas.  They  have  no  issue.  Louisa  Sergeant  married 
John  C.  Kinkle,  and  Eliza  Sergeant  married  William 
Haywood  Meyers  and  they  have  seven  children.  Mary 
and  Sarah  Sergeant  live  in  Carlisle,  Pa.  John  died  in 
infancy. 

10.   Ellen  Sergeant,  born  1831  ;    died  unmarried  in  1902. 

It  should  here  be  noted  that  there  is,  of  the  unusual  num- 
ber of  descendants  of  John  Sergeant,  and  of  his  father,  not  a 
male  having  the  surname  of  Sergeant. 


286  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

By  its  numerous  alliances  the  ancient  family  of  Sergeant  is 
one  of  the  most  i)rominently  connected  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York,  and  especially  in  Philadelphia,  as  will  be  seen  when 
it  is  recalled  that  the  alliances  include  those  with  the  families 
of  Meade,  Gerhard,  Large,  Pepper,  Drexel,  Bache,  Dixon, 
Smith,  Meyers,  Kinkle.  Coxe,  Fox.  \\'ikoff,  Harrison,  Cram, 
Haven,  Winthrop,  and  others. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
Evelyn  Beverley  Douglas. 


Wife  of  John  Sergeant  Wise, 
Her  Ancestry. 


Douglas,  Farquhar,  Campbell,  Crawford,  Hume, 
Menzies,  Orrick,  Offutt. 


Col.  William  Douglas  of  "Garrallan"  and  "Montressor," 
Loudoun  County.  Virginia,  came  to  A'irginia  from  Ayr,  Scot- 
land. His  ancestry  is  Avell  established.  He  was  the  son  of 
Hugh  Douglas  of  "Garrallan."  Scotland,  and  Catherine  Hume. 
A  genealogical  table  compiled  and  certified  by  James  Cummyng, 
"Keeper  of  the  Lyon  Records,"  shows  Hugh  Douglas  of 
"Garrallan"  to  have  been  descended  from  Douglas.  Earl  of 
Douglas,  called  "Black  Douglas."  whose  son  was  Douglas  of 
Parkhead.  whose  son  was  Douglas  of  Waterside,  the  eldest  son 
of  whose  eldest  son  was  Douglas  of  "Garrallan."  the  father  of 
Hugh  Douglas  of  "Garrallan."  the  father  of  Col.  William 
Douglas,  the  immigrant. 

The  mother  of  Douglas  of  "Garrallan."  Scotland,  grand- 
father of  the  immigrant,  was  Campbell,  heiress  of  "Garrallan," 
whose  father,  Campbell  of  "Garrallan."  was  the  son  of  Camp- 
bell of  "Shankston."  son  of  Campbell.  Baron  of  Londown. 
Douglas,  eldest  son  of  Douglas  of  Waterside,  married  Far- 
quhar.  daughter  of  Farquhar  of  Gilmerscroft.  Douglas  of 
"Garrallan."  grandfather  of  the  immigrant,  married  Margaret 
Crawford,  daughter  of  Crawford  of  Camlarg,  son  of  Crawford 
of  Kerse. 

Catherine  Hume  (Home),  mother  of  the  immigrant,  was  the 
daughter  of  Patrick  Hume.  Minister  of  Carmichael,  and  Mar- 
garet Menzies,  the  daughter  of  James  Menzies  of  Enoch  and 
Katherine  Douglas,  the  daughter  of  Sir  James  Douglas  of 
Kalkhead  and  Lady  Catherine  Douglas. 

The  connection  between  Col.  William  Douglas  of  "Gar- 
rallan." Loudoun  County,  Virginia,  and  Hugh  Douglas,  of  Ayr, 
Scotland,  was  not  thoroughly  established  until  John  Sergeant 
Wise  instituted  his  investigations.  To  start  with  he  had  several 
clues  that  seemed  conclusive.  Not  only  did  the  immigrant  em- 
ploy the  ancient  Douglas  crest  and  coat  of  arms,  but  he  named 
his  estate  in  Loudoun  County  "Garrallan,"  and  his  son,  Patrick 
Hume  Douglas,  whose  son  in  turn  was  named  Hugh  Douglas. 
W^hen  ]\Ir.  Wise  found  that  Hugh  Douglas  of  "Garrallan," 
Ayr.    Scotland,    married    Catherine,    the    daughter    of    Patrick 


290 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


Hume,  he  at  once  sought  the  aid  of  the  Keeper  of  the  Lyon 
Records  to  estabhsh  at  law  the  connection.  An  examination  of 
the  records  disclosed  the  fact  that  William,  son  of  Hugh  of 
"Garrallan,"  had  migrated  to  Loudoun  County,  Virginia,  and 
settled  there.  Soon  after  this  discovery  legal  proceedings  in 
Scotland  were  instituted  to  fix  the  title  of  the  Laird  of  Garrallan 


GEN.   HUGH   DOUGLAS 
Of  "Garrallan,"  Ayreshire 


in  a  collateral  branch  of  the  ancient  family  of  Douglas  of  Scot- 
land of  which  there  is  no  male  heir.  In  these  proceedings  the 
proof  of  Wilham  Douglas  having  migrated  to  Virginia  was 
necessary  in  order  for  the  title  to  revert  at  law  to  the  family  of 
Boswell  of  Ayr,  a  female  Douglas  heir  having  married  a  Boswell 
of  the  family  of  the  celebrated  biographer  of  Dr.  Samuel  John- 
son.    Of  the  two  sons  of  this  alliance  both  served  as  officers  in 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AXD  DESCENDANTS         291 

the  South  African  War;  the  elder  was  killed,  leaving  Col.  John 
Douglas  Bosweh  of  "Garrallan."  barrister  of  Edinburgh,  the 
senior  male  descendant  of  Douglas,  Earl  of  Douglas.  In  1917 
he  is  a  colonel  in  the  Scottish  Yeomanry,  having  served  in 
Egvpt  and  in  Greece.  He  and  his  sister.  Georgiana  Douglas 
Boswell.  of  Sandgate  House,  have  exchanged  visits  with  their 
Virginia  cousins — the  W^ises — and  between  them  a  relation  of 
close  friendship  as  well  as  their  distant  blood  kinship  exists.  On 
the  "Garrallan"  estate  in  Ayr  is  to  be  seen  the  cottage  of  Robert 
Burns,  who  was  a  tenant  of  the  Douglases;  also  the  famous 
bridge  of  Tam  O'Shanter.  Many  interesting  Burns  letters  are 
in  possession  of  the  family,  one  of  which  shows  that  the  cele- 
brated poet  had  been  engaged  as  a  clerk  and  was  on  the  point  of 
going  to  the  \\'est  Indies  in  the  employ  of  a  Douglas  who  owned 
a  sugar  plantation  there,  when  fortune  overtook  him. 

A  sister  of  Colonel  Boswell's  mother  married  Lord  Dunlop 
of  Scotland.  They  have  one  son  resident  in  Montreal,  Canada, 
and  another  who  is  also  a  colonel  in  the  British  Army.  Col. 
Charles  Dunlop  and  five  of  his  men  were  the  last  to  leave  the 
Gallipoli  when  it  was  evacuated  in  1916.  In  1917  he  is  with  the 
Allied  Army  at  Salonika. 

The  following  certificate,  parchment  facsimile  of  which  is  in 
possession  of  the  writer  and  other  members  of  his  family,  and 
on  file  in  various  historical  archives  in  this  country,  is  of  interest 
here.  It  bears  the  Douglas  motto — Fortis  et  Fidelis — the 
Douglas  crest  which  is  a  heart  proper,  and  the  ancient  Douglas 
coat  of  arms  which  is.  Argent,  a  heart  imperially  crowned  ppr. 
between  two  buckles  azure,  all  within  a  bordure  gules ;  on  a 
chief  of  the  third  three  stars  of  the  field.  (See  Clark's  "Intro- 
duction to  Heraldry,"  and  "Virginia  Heraldica,"  Crozier,  p.  38.) 
In  the  possession  of  the  writer  are  six  large  silver  spoons  of  the 
immigrant.  Col.  William  Douglas,  bearing  the  Douglas  crest, 
and  other  descendants  possess  other  articles  of  ancient  silver- 
ware, which  he  brought  with  him  to  \'irginia. 

"To  all  and  sundry  whom  these  do  or  may  concern.  \Yt  John 
Hooke  Campbell  of  Bangeston  Esquire  Lyon  King  of  Arms 
do  hereby  certify  and  declare  that  the  Ensign's  armorial  per- 
taining and  belonging  to  Hugh  Douglas  of  Garrallan  and  in  the 


292  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

County  of  his  Esquire  descendants  from  the  family  of  Douglas 
of  Parkhead  a  cadet  of  the  antient  Earls  of  Douglas  are  matricu- 
lated in  the  puhlic  Registers  of  the  Lyon  Office  and  are  l^lazoned 
as  on  the  Margin  thus  Viz.  Argent  a  Heart  Ensigned  with  an 
Imperial  Crown  proper  between  two  Buckles  Azure  all  within  a 
Bordure  Gules  on  a  Chief  of  the  third  three  Stars  of  the  field. 
Above  the  Shield  is  placed  an  Helmet  befitting  his  Degree  with 
a  Mantling  Gules  the  doubling  Argent  on  a  Wreath  of  his 
liveries  is  set  for  his  Crest  a  Heart  proper  and  in  an  Escroll 
above  the  Crest  this  motto  Fortis  Et  Fidelis,  which  Armorial 
Ensigns  above  blazoned  we  do  hereby  ratify,  confirm,  and  assign 
to  the  said  Hugh  Douglas  Esquire  and  the  heirs  male  of  his 
Bodv  as  their  proper  arms  and  bearing  in  all  time  coming.  In 
testimony  whereof  these  presents  are  subscribed  by  Robert  Bos- 
well  Esquire  Our  Deputy  and  the  great  seal  of  Our  Office  is 
ap])ended  hereunto  at  Edinburgh  the  twenty  second  day  of 
March  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety. 

"Ro.  BoswELL  Lyon  Dep." 

Col.  William  Douglas  came  to  \'irginia  from  Scotland  about 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  (1750),  and  settled  in 
Loudoun  County.  In  1770  he  was  one  of  the  Justices  of 
Loudoun  County.  (Va.  State  Papers,  Vol.  I.,  p.  263.)  In 
February,  1780,  he  was  High  Sheriff.  At  the  March  term  of 
the  County  Court  in  1783  his  last  will  and  testament,  dated 
June  3,  1780,  was  admitted  to  probate.  A  codicil  dated 
September  24,  1782,  mentioned  the  death  of  his  wife  Sarah  since 
the  will  was  written.  He  owned  the  handsome  estates  of 
"Garrallan"  and  "Montressor"  in  Loudoun  Count3^  the  former 
lying  along  the  Potomac  River  north  of  Leesburg.  His  exe- 
cutors gave  bond  for  £10,000.  His  will  directed  his  estate  to 
be  equally  divided  between  "my  five  girls  and  two  sons,  viz. : 
Hugh  Douglass,  Patrick  Douglass,  Kittie  Hale  [Heale],  Bettie 
Douglass,  Nancy  Douglass,  Hannah  Douglass,  and  Peggy 
Douglass."  It  also  identified  him  as  follows :  "All  the  part  of 
my  estate  which  will  come  to  me  by  the  decease  of  my  father 
Mr.  Hugh  Douglass  of  Garrallan  in  the  Parish  of  Old  Cumnock 
North  Britain  I  desire."  etc.  All  the  families  of  Douglass 
formerly  used  either  one  "s"  or  two  at  the  end  of  their  name, 
but  of  late  but  one  "s"  is  used. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AXD  DESCENDANTS         293 

The  first  wife  of  Col.  William  Douglas  was  Elizabeth  Offutt. 
He  must  have  married  her  before  1761,  for  his  son  Hugh  was 
of  age  in  1783,  qualifying  as  his  father's  executor  that  year. 

Elizabeth  Offutt,  born  January   13.  ,  was  the  widow  of 

Stephen  Lewis.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Owen  Offutt, 
born  October  18.  1710,  of  Berkeley  County.  \^irginia,  and  Eliza- 
beth Hite,  born  January  13.  1715.  Samuel  Owen  Oft'utt  was 
the  son  of  Nathaniel,  eldest  son  of  Samuel  Offutt.  born  1710, 
died  1761,  and  Elizabeth  (Burgess?),  born  1715.  Samuel  was 
the  third  son  of  William  Oft"utt  and  Mary  Brock,  daughter 
of  Edward  Brock,  ^^'illiam  Offutt  of  Montgomery  County 
patented  a  tract  of  land  called  the  "Younger  Brother"  in  Prince 
George  County. 

By  Elizabeth  Off'utt.  Col.  William  Douglas  had : 

1.  Catherine  Douglas,  who  married  Philip  Hale  and  left 
many  descendants.  (See  Douglas  Chart,  prepared  by 
John  Sergeant  Wise.)      (See  Chapter  XXHI.) 

2.  Elizabeth  Douglas,  who  married  William  Dixon  of 
Greenville.  Tenn.,  and  left  many  descendants.     (Chart.) 

3.  Nancy  Douglas,  who  married  Smith  Hale  of  Woodford 
County,  Kentuckv.  and  left  manv  descendants.  (Chart.) 
(See  Chapter  XXHI.) 

4.  Hannah  Douglas,  who  married  Charles  Binns,  and  left 
many  descendants.     (Chart.) 

5.  Margaret  Douglas,  spinster.     (Aunt  Peggie.) 

6.  Gen.  Hugh  Douglas,  of  the  Revolution,  who  married 
Catherine  Nasmythe  and  had : 

1 .  Charles  Douglas,  married  Waterman ;    no  issue. 

2.  Lewis  Fordyce  Douglas ;    no  issue. 

3.  Archibald  N.  Douglas,  born  1812;  died  1892;  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Ross,  born  1820.  died  1900.  and  had 
Mary  Broomfield,  Catherine  Nasmythe,  and  Ann 
Hugh.  The  last  two  are  spinsters  living  in  Char- 
lottesville, \^a. 

Mary  Broomfield  Douglas  was  born  at  "Delta,"  August  22, 
1852,  and  died  October  12,  1896.  She  married  Dr.  Weaker 
Davis  Dabnev,  who  was  born  at  "Dunlora."  Mav  13,  1853.  and 


294  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

died  March  12,  1899.  He  was  the  son  of  William  S.  Dabney 
and  Susan  Fitzhugh,  born  1818;  died  1899.  Mary  Broomfield 
Douglas  and  Walter  Davis  Dabney  had  issue : 

1.  Judge  Archibald  Douglas  Dabney,  of  Charlottesville, 
Va.,  born  at  "Rose  Valley,"  Albemarle  County,  June  9, 
1879,  who  married,  April  20,  1904,  Lilhan  W.  Funk- 
houser,  and  had  Emily  Douglas  Dabney,  born  March 
28,   1905. 

2.  Dr.  William  Cecil  Dabney,  born  at  "Belvidere,"  January 
18,  1881,  and  married,  October  8,  1912,  Grace  Barry. 

3.  Walter  Davis  Dabney,  born  at  "Belvidere,"  September  4, 
1882.  and  married,  October  28,  1915,  Maud  Ballomy. 

4.  Ehzabeth  Ross  Dabney,  born  at  "Belvidere,"  June  10, 
1884.  and  married,  September  9.  1908,  Ernest  Haymond 
Venable.  son  of  M.  W.  Venable  and  Katherine  Dyer, 
and  had : 

1.  Ernest  Haymond  Venable,  Jr.,  born  June  12.  1909. 

2.  Walter  Dabney  Venable,  born  November  18,  1911. 

5.  Mary  Douglas  Dabney,  born  at  "Belvidere,"  June  6, 
1887,  and  married,  September  14,  1912,  James  Allen 
Latane.  Jr.,  son  of  James  Allen  Latane  and  Mary 
Holidav.  and  had  Catherine  Anne  Latane.  born  March 
28,  1914. 

6.  Basil  Gordon  Dabney,  born  at  "Belvidere,"  September 
28.  1889,  and  married,  December  18,  1913,  Martha 
Estelle  Knight,  and  had : 

1.  Martha  Douglas   Dabney,  born  December  20,   1914. 

2.  Mary  Broomfield  Dabney,  born  January  18,  1916. 

7.  Susan  Gordon  Dabney,  born  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
November  2,  1892. 

Col.  William  Douglas  married,  secondly,  Sarah  Orrick,  the 
widow  of  William  Chilton,  and  the  grandmother  of  Gen.  Richard 
Hill  Chilton  of  Virginia,  whose  daughter,  Laura  Chilton,  mar- 
ried Gen.  Peyton  Wise.  Sarah  Orrick  died  about  1782.  She 
was  of  the  Maryland  family  of  Orrick,  which  is  the  same  as  the 
ancient  Scottish  family  of  Orrock.  In  "Maryland  Heraldry"  a 
very  full  and  interesting  account  of  the  Orrock  family  is 
included. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         295 

Orrock  arms : 

Arms  :   Sable,  on  a  chevron  engrailed  or,  betw^n  mullets 

argent  as  many  chess  rooks  of  the  first. 
Crest  :    A  falcon  perched  ppr. 
Motto:   Solus  Christus  mea  rupes. 

The  following  letter  may  be  found  in  the  memoirs  of  Susanna 
Mason  by  her  daughter.  It  was  written  to  congratulate  Sarah 
Orrick  upon  her  marriage  to  William  Chilton,  her  first  husband : 

To  Sarah  Orrick. 

,,,,     -r^  .  "Deer  Creek,   1769. 

My  Dear  Aunt: 

''Were  there  any  probability  that  time  or  distance  would  erase 
you  from  my  memory  and  affection,  the  privation  in  the  heart 
of  your  Susan  would  certainly,  ere  this,  have  taken  place ; 
especially,  as  I  have  had  no  proof  that  my  dear  aunt  retains  her 
remembrance  of  me,  since  our  sorrowful  parting,  within  an  hour 
of  your  sailing  for  the  Eastern  Shore,  where,  I  suppose,  your 
time  and  thoughts  have  been  engrossed  by  your  gay  and  agree- 
able acquaintances.  But,  be  assured,  that  in  all  the  gay  circle 
you  will  not  find  one  that  loves  you  more  than  Susan. 

"With  the  sensibility  of  a  heart  anxious  for  your  welfare,  I 
perused  the  sum  total  of  your  wordly  felicity  in  your  letter  to 
Uncle  Hall,  in  which  I  suppose  we  may  include  a  well-chosen 
partner  for  life.  Did  I  not  tell  you  there  was  more  in  store  for 
you  than  ever  was  revealed  by  any  of  your  good  doctors  of 
physic  or  divinity  in  Cecil? 

"Please  to  present  my  intended  uncle  with  my  best  respects, 
and  tell  him  your  niece  reverences  him  as  the  happy  gentleman 
who,  with  the  blessing  of  Providence,  I  hope,  will  render  you  as 
completely  blessed  as  the  vicissitudes  of  time  and  temporal  en- 
joyments can  possibly  admit. 

"But  a  wish  for  your  happiness,  extending  no  further  than 
the  verge  of  time,  would,  in  reality,  be  no  happiness  at  all,  or 
at  best,  but  a  dream.  For  it  is  an  established  maxim  that  worldly 
enjoyment  is  always  greater  in  expectation  than  in  fruition,  and 
often  much  less  in  retrospect,  but  the  solid  and  leading  pleasure 
I  sincerely  wish  you  is  only  to  be  found  in  the  perfection  of 
every  Christian  virtue  in  time,  and  the  reward  of  such  virtue  in 
eternity. 


296  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

"I  have  lived  a  very  recluse  life  since  I  have  been  separated 
from  my  friend  B.  and  you.  I  have  made  an  acquaintance  with 
a  very  worthy  young  gentleman  of  the  clergy,  whose  library 
supplies  me  with  an  ample  field  for  my  thoughts  and  medita- 
tions upon  the  most  important  subjects,  and  my  evening  enter- 
tainment is  generally  one  of  those  instructive  pieces,  among  the 
trees  of  our  rural  seat.  After  this  description  of  my  life,  you 
cannot  expect  I  have  any  news,  to  entertain  you  w^ith. 

''The  current  topic  of  conversation  among  the  gentlemen  (they 
being  mostly  politicians)  is  the  affairs  of  State,  and  every  brave 
son  of  Liberty  is  for  leaving  to  posterity  that  inestimable  bless- 
ing, by  breaking  off  every  connection  he  possibly  can  with 
Europe.  The  good  wives,  inspired  with  the  same  noble  reso- 
lution, are  turning  around  the  spinning  wheel,  in  order  to  im- 
prove that  most  useful  branch  of  the  American  manufactures. 

"I  hope,  my  dear  Aunt,  that  when  you  commence  to  be  a 
wife,  we  shall  see  you  an  illustrious  pattern  to  the  matrons  of 
this  age,  and  that  the  name  of  the  worthy  Sarah  Chilton  will 
make  a  figure  upon  record,  with  the  names  of  the  rest  of  the 
wives  in  the  noble  cause  of  liberty.  But  the  parting  prayer  to 
you,  Sarah,  is  that  your  name  may  be  found  written  on  the 
everlasting  record  of  the  Book  of  Life,  with  the  name  of  your 
affectionate  niece, 

"Susan." 

By  Sarah  Orrick,  Col.  WilHam  Douglas  had  one  child,  Patrick 
Hume  Douglas,  whom  he  named  after  his  maternal  grand- 
father, Patrick  Hume,  Minister  of  Carmichael,  Scotland.  His 
two  wives  were  widows,  the  first  with  Lewis  and  the  second 
with  Chilton  children.  Having  six  children  by  the  first  and 
one  by  the  last,  he  had  under  his  roof  four  sets  of  children, 
which  fact  is  frequently  referred  to  in  the  family  papers. 

Dr.  Patrick  Hume  Douglas,  son  of  Col.  William  Douglas 
and  Sarah  Orrick,  was  educated  for  the  medical  profession.  He 
lived  for  a  while  on  the  parental  estate  of  "Montressor"  in 
Loudoun,  his  older  half-brother.  Gen.  Hugh  Douglas,  having 
inherited  "Garrallan."  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he 
lived  at  "Farmwell,"  in  Leesburg.  A  faithful  physician,  he 
never  acquired  much  of  an  estate,  and  died  comparatively  poor 
in  1820  at  an  age  certainly  not  exceeding  sixty  years.     He  mar- 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         297 

ried  Evelyn  Beverley  (see  Chapter  XXI.  for  her  ancestry), 
widow  of  George  Lee  of  Loudoun,  who  by  her  first  husband  had 
two  sons.  Dr.  George  Lee  and  Maria  Lee.  The  latter  married 
McCabe  and  had  no  issue.  Dr.  Lee  married  Sally  Moore 
Henderson   and    had:     1.    Orra,    2.    Archibald    H.,    3.    George, 


HUGH   DOUGLAS 

Pinxit  Cooper 


4.  Maria,  5.  Evelyn  Byrd,  6.  Elizabeth  Claggett.  Of  these, 
Orra  married  John  M.  Orr,  and  Evelyn  Byrd  married  Delaney, 
both  leaving  descendants.  George  married  Laura  Rogers  of 
Loudoun  and  had :  Hugh  Douglas,  George,  deceased,  Eleanor 
Orr,  Asa  Rogers,  and  Arthur.  Eleanor  Orr  married  Abbott 
Brisbane  Rhett,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  New  York. 


298  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

By  Evelyn  Beverley,  Dr.  Patrick  Hume  Douglas  had: 

1.  Hugh  Douglas,  born  August  11,  1811;    died  December 
24,  1880. 

2.  William  Byrd  Douglas,  born   1813.  deceased. 

3.  Evelyn  Byrd  Douglas,  died  in  infancy. 

When  their  father  died  Hugh  and  William  Byrd  Douglas 
were  mere  lads,  the  elder  but  nine  years  of  age,  and  being 
orphans  were  taken  to  the  home  of  their  cousin,  Archibald  Hugh 
Douglas,  in  Loudoun.  "Cousin  Arch"  was  a  good  and  tender 
guardian  to  them  for  several  years,  but  he  was  unable  to  give 
them  the  advantages  he  desired  for  them.  Accordingly  it  was 
arranged  that  they  should  go  to  Tennessee  and  make  their 
homes  with  their  great-uncle  by  marriage,  William  Dixon,  of 
Greenville,  Tenn.,  husband  of  their  great-aunt,  Elizabeth 
Douglas,  who  had  but  one  child,  Catherine  Douglas  Dixon,  who 
had  married  Dr.  Alexander  Williams  of  Surry  County,  North 
Carolina,  in  1823.  In  1824  the  two  lads  left  their  Virginia 
home  for  Greenville,  the  elder  being  but  thirteen  years  of  age. 
"Uncle  Dixon"  raised  them  as  if  they  were  his  own  children. 

The  two  small  boys  journeyed  from  Leesburg  to  Greenville, 
Tenn.,  alone,  and  almost  without  funds.  Stopping  at  the  homes 
of  complete  strangers,  they  gave  their  hosts  written  promises 
to  pay  for  their  lodging  and  board,  which  were  faithfully 
honored  in  after  years  with  one  exception — the  holder  in  that 
case  they  were  not  able  to  trace.  Such  was  the  custom  in  those 
days.  Thousands  of  young  men  were  tramping  across  the 
State  from  the  old  Tidewater  section  to  the  West.  "Go  West, 
young  man!"  was  a  counsel  that  many  heeded.  Eastern  and 
Piedmont  Virginia  were  much  impoverished ;  these  sections 
were  suffering  intensely  from  overcrowding  and  the  wasteful 
methods  that  had  been  employed  by  the  agriculturists.  The 
period  from  1820  to  1830  was  a  very  dark  one  in  Virginia  his- 
tory, and  economic  circumstances  compelled  a  migration  of 
younger  sons  to  the  West  and  Southwest.  Virginians  having 
largely  peopled  the  Ohio,  Illinois,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee 
countries   between    1780   and    1820,    they    now   began   to   push 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         299 

further  on  and.  with  the  men  of  the  Carohnas,  to  occupy  the 
present  states  of  Alabama,  Mississippi.  Arkansas,  Kansas,  and 
Missouri. 

Upon  reaching  "Uncle  Dixon's"  home,  near  Greenville,  the 
two  lads,  Hugh  and  William  Byrd  Douglas,  were  entered  in  the 
local  country  school,  to  which  they  daily  trudged  in  their  bare 
feet.  On  Saturdays  they  helped  their  guardian  take  inventory 
of  his  merchandise  and  thus  acquired  the  rudimentary  knowl- 
edge of  country  merchants.  They  early  displayed  great  aptitude 
for  business.  So  soon  as  they  had  acquired  a  rude  education, 
"Uncle  Dixon,"  whose  business  had  prospered,  established  a 
branch  store  in  Fayetteville,  Tenn.,  and  sent  them  to  take 
charge  of  it. 

The  business  in  Fayetteville  was  most  successful  from  the 
first,  and  soon  the  young  orphans  both  married.  When  they 
had  acquired  a  fortune  of  $10,000.00  they  decided  to  remove 
to  Nashville,  which  was  a  field  of  large  opportunity,  though 
at  that  time  a  comparatively  small  place. 

The  concern  of  Douglas  &  Douglas  in  Nashville  soon  became 
one  of  the  largest  wholesale  dealers  in  merchandise  and  cotton 
on  the  middle  IMississippi,  and  the  two  brothers  were  recognized 
as  among  Nashville's  leading  citizens  and  merchants.  Their 
business  was  established  on  Douglas  Corner,  now  in  the  heart 
of  Nashville  on  the  public  square.  They  also  owned  great  cotton 
warehouses  in  Memphis  and  at  other  points.  Hugh  Douglas 
was  a  very  popular  merchant  and  transacted  most  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  concern  with  the  Northern  customers,  frequently 
visiting  the  great  cities  of  the  North.  William  Byrd  Douglas 
was  the  financier  and  manager  of  the  business.  Before  the 
\\"ar  between  the  States  occurred  they  were  everywhere  recog- 
nized and  rated  as  the  "Cotton  Kings"  of  Nashville. 

In  1861  the  Nashville  warehouse  of  Douglas  &  Douglas  was 
impressed  by  the  United  States  Government  for  yse  as  a  military 
arsenal.  \Mlliam  Byrd  Douglas  was  a  secessionist,  and  had 
been  most  partisan  in  politics.  \\'ith  him  his  older  brother, 
Hugh,  disagreed.  The  latter  was  then  fifty  years  of  age  and 
physically  unfitted  for  military  service.  When  South  Carolina 
seceded.   William  Byrd  Douglas  wrote  Governor  Pickens  and 


300  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

sent  him  $5,000.00  in  gold,  offering  his  own  aid  and  the 
services  of  five,  sons,  two  of  whom  were  killed  in  the  war  as 
Confederate  officers.  An  order  from  Washington  soon  came 
directing  that  he  he  imprisoned  and  his  property  confiscated. 
Immediately  he  was  thrown  into  the  penitentiary.  Cotton  be- 
longing to  Douglas  &  Douglas  in  Montgomery,  Ala.,  where  it 
had  been  stored  for  safe-keeping,  which  was  worth  more  than 
a  million  dollars,  was  meantime  accidentally  burned.  Hugh 
Douglas,  when  the  business  of  the  brothers  was  closed  in 
Nashville,  removed  from  his  home  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  for 
a  time  operated  a  business  there.  His  disagreement  with  his 
brother  had  temporarily  estranged  them,  as  similar  differences 
had  done  so  many  brothers  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and 
the  other  border  states.  But  when  the  latter  was  imprisoned 
he  made  every  eft'ort  to  relieve  him  from  distress. 

While  living  in  Greenville  as  mere  lads,  the  two  brothers 
had  known  Andrew  Johnson,  who  was  a  tailor  in  that  town. 
Between  them  a  warm  friendship  had  sprung  up,  and  they  had 
often  read  to  him  and  helped  him  with  his  self-imposed  studies. 
Mr.  Johnson's  friendship  with  Hugh  Douglas  now  enabled  the 
latter  to  secure  the  release  of  W'illiam  Byrd  Douglas  from  the 
penitentiary.  It  is  here  interesting  to  recount  that  when  Mr. 
Hugh  Douglas  visited  \\'ashington  during  Mr.  Johnson's  ad- 
ministration, he  and  his  daughters  and  one  of  his  nieces  (Mrs. 
Richards)  w^ere  invited  to  dine  at  the  White  House.  The 
President  greeted  the  young  ladies  with  the  remark  that  he 
had  made  their   father's  first  dress  suits ! 

Hugh  Douglas  soon  returned  to  Nashville  from  Louisville 
and  occupied  his  old  home,  then  in  the  outskirts  of  the  city, 
and  much  exposed.  But  he  and  his  \\'\ie  and  three  beautiful 
daughters  lived  there  without  molestation,  under  the  constant 
protection  of  a  military  guard  which  Mr.  Johnson  had  detailed 
for  the  purpose. 

Mr.  Douglas's  estate  was  a  very  large  and  handsome  one. 
The  large  stone  mansion  house  was  surrounded  by  park-like 
grounds,  and  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  handsomest 
places  in  Nashville.  Some  years  after  his  death  the  grounds 
were    divided    and    sold    oft'    in    citv    lots.      The    house,    much 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


301 


altered,  still  stands,  and  is  well  within  the  city.  After  the  war 
Mr.  Douglas  and  his  family,  who  had  been  permitted  throughout 
the  war  to  send  supplies  of  clothing,  food,  and  medicine  through 
the  Federal  lines  and  to  the  Confederate  hospitals,  and  prisoners 
on  Johnston's  Island,  fell  under  the  guardianship  of  the  "Ku 
Klux,"  members  of  which  frequently  patroled  the  grounds  and 


EVELYN    BYRD    BEVERLEY    DOUGLAS 

Wife  of  Hon.  John   Sergeant   Wise 

visited  the  house  in  those  dangerous  times.  Never  once  did  they 
suffer  from  depredations  or  personal  violence  from  the  bands  of 
marauding  negroes.  Thus  the  family  was  protected  both  by  the 
Federal  authorities  and  the  Southern  men  of  Nashville.  But 
Mr.  Douglas's  property  losses  in  cotton  had  been  enormous.  He 
remained  a  wealthy  man.  however,  at  the  close  of  the  war.  In 
the  burning  of  cotton  in  Memphis  and  Montgomery  he  and  his 
brother  lost  about  $4,000,000.00. 


302  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

After  the  war  Mr.  Douglas  traveled  extensively  with  his  three 
daughters,  visiting  Virginia,  and  the  North,  where  he  was  well 
known  in  financial  and  business  circles.  It  was  on  a  visit  to  the 
University  of  Virginia  that  his  daughter,  Evelyn  Beverley 
Douglas,  met  and  became  engaged  to  John  Sergeant  Wise.  They 
were  married  in  Nashville  in  1869.  In  connection  with  the 
wedding  an  interesting  sidelight  on  the  times  should  l)e  thrown. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  deeply  grateful  to  his  old  friend.  President 
Johnson.  Mrs.  Douglas  insisted  that  he  be  not  included  among 
the  wedding  guests.  She  disliked  him  intensely,  and  considered 
him  socially  undesirable.  But  Mr.  Douglas  had  no  patience  with 
her  narrow  prejudices,  and  declared  that  Mr.  Johnson  would 
attend,  or  that  there  would  be  no  wedding.     And  so  he  attended. 

Hugh  Douglas  and  his  brother  were  both  strikingly  handsome 
men,  the  former  six  feet  tall,  the  latter  very  small.  A  splendid 
portrait  of  Hugh  Douglas,  by  Cooper,  is  extant.  He  was  noted 
for  his  generosity  and  elegance,  and  is  well  remembered  in  Nash- 
ville as  one  of  the  city's  leading  citizens  in  early  days.  Some 
time  before  his  death  he  married  a  second  time,  settling  an 
inde])endent  fortune  upon  each  of  his  three  daughters — Mrs. 
Dallas  of  Nashville,  Mrs.  Williams  of  Baltimore,  and  Mrs.  Wise 
of  Richmond.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years.  For  a 
number  of  years  before  his  death  he  had  been  totally  blind  in 
one  eye  and  partially  blind  in  the  other,  due  to  an  acci- 
dent of  surgery.  By  travel  and  reading  he  had  amply  extended 
the  very  rudimentary  education  he  was  able  to  obtain  in  his 
youth,  and  his  three  daughters  were  educated  at  the  best  schools 
in  the  East,  attending  at  one  time  Miss  Lefebre's  celebrated 
school  in  Baltimore.  He  died  and  was  buried  in  Nashville, 
where  the  descendants  of  his  brother,  William  Byrd  Douglas, 
are  numerous,  and  occupy  prominent  positions,  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  whom  was  perhaps  the  late  celebrated  surgeon, 
Dr.  Richard  Dixie  Douglas. 

William  Byrd  Douglas  married,  first,  Martha  R.  Bright,  by 
whom  he  had : 

1.  Edwin  Henry  Douglas,  who  married,  first,  Elizabeth 
McGavock ;  and,  second,  the  widow  Electra  Woodfin, 
by  whom  he  had  Margaret  and  Ellen  Douglas. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         303 

2.  Hugh  Bright  Douglas  married  Margaret  Douglas  Terrett 
and  had  Byrd  Douglas  of  Fayetteville. 

3.  Lee  Douglas,  C.  S.  A.     Killed  in  the  Battle  of  Shiloh. 

4.  Byrd  Douglas,  who  married,  first,  Samuella  Gaines,  and 
had  :  Byrd,  Addie,  and  Samuel.  Samuel  is  married  and 
has  two  children,  and  Addie  married  Walter  Cain  and 
has  a  son,  Byrd  Douglas  Cain ;  and,  second,  Addie 
Gaines,  and  had  Lee  Byrd  and  Beverley. 

5.  Mary  Margaret,  who  married,  first,  James  R.  Buckner, 
and  had  James  R.  Buckner,  Jr.,  who  married  Miss  Eve 
and  had  Edward  and  Jane  Eve ;  and,  second,  Edward 
Dorrett  Richards,  and  had  Evelyn  Byrd  Douglas 
Richards,  who  married  Dr.  Owen  Wilson  of  Nashville. 

William  Byrd  Douglas  married,  second,  Hannah  V.  Lucas, 
the  widow  Cook,  and  had : 

1 .  Ellen  Douglas,  who  married  Dr.  G.  A.  Baxter  and  had : 
Douglas,  Catherine,  died  in  infancy,  and  Bruce  of 
Birmingham,  Ala.    Douglas  and  Bruce  are  both  married 

2.  Bruce  Douglas,  who  married  Ella  Kirkman  and  had 
Bruce  Douglas  and  Evelyn  Byrd  Douglas. 

William  Byrd  Douglas  married,  third,  Sarah  Cragwell,  and 
had :  Dr.  Richard  Dixie  Douglas,  the  famous  Nashville  surgeon, 
who  married  Martha  L'win  and  had  Richard,  Sarah,  and 
Martha. 

Hugh  Douglas  married  Nancy  Hamilton,  his  half  first  cousin 
once  removed.  She  was  born  August  10,  1813,  and  died 
November  20,  1869,  and  was  the  daughter  of  William  Hamilton 
of  Woodford  County,  Kentucky,  and  Eliza  Hale.  (Eor 
ancestory  of  Nancy  Hamilton  see  Chapter  XXHI.)  Two  fine 
portraits  in  oil  of  Nancy  Hamilton  and  one  of  Hugh  Douglas, 
by  Cooper,  are  in  existence  and  belong  to  the  children  of  their 
daughter,  Evelyn  Beverley  Douglas  (Mrs.  John  Sergeant 
Wise).     They  had  issue: 

1.  Louisa  Arch  Douglas,  who  married  M.  E.  Calvin 
Williams  of  Baltimore.  She  died  without  issue  soon 
after  her  marriage ;    Mr.   Williams  then  married   Miss 


304  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Colt.  He  was  killed  by  accident,  and  left  a  son  who 
was  also  killed  by  accident,  and  a  daughter,  who  married 
George  Massie  of  Philadelphia. 

2.  Arch.     Died  in  infancy. 

3.  Ella  Arch,  who  married  M.  T.  B.  Dallas  of  Tennessee 
and  had  Hugh  Douglas  Dallas,  deceased,  who  married 
Elizabeth  Lindsay  and  had  Hugh  Douglas  Dallas,  Jr. 
His  widow   married   Claude  Christopher. 

4.  Evelyn  Beverley  Douglas,  who  married,  November  3, 
1869,  John  Sergeant  Wise.  (For  their  descendants  see 
Chapter   XVHI.) 


CHAPTER  XXL 
Evelyn  Beverley. 


Wife  of  Dr.  Patrick  Hume  Douglas, 
Her  Ancestry. 


Beverley,  Byrd,  Hone,  Bland,  Bennett, 
Randolph,  Isham. 


20 


Evelyn  Beverley,  who  married  Dr.  Patrick  Hume  Douglas 
of  Loudoun,  was  the  widow  of  George  Lee,  also  of  Loudoun. 
Her  children  by  her  two  husbands  have  been  enumerated  here- 
inbefore. (See  Chapter  XX.)  She  died  prior  to  1820,  and 
was  the  daughter  of  Robert  Beverley  and  Maria  Carter.  (See 
Chapter  XXH.  for  ancestry  of  Maria  Carter.) 

Robert  Beverley  was  the  son  of  Capt.  William  Beverley  of 
"Blanford,"  Essex  County,  and  Ehzabeth  Bland.  (See  Meade's 
"Old  Churches.  Ministers  and  Families  of  Virginia,"  Vol.  L, 
p.  446,  Vol.  n.,  p.  482.) 

Capt.  William  Beverley  was  twenty-nine  years  Clerk  of  the 
Essex  County  Court,  from  1716  to  1745,  and  is  given  by 
Bishop  Meade  (Vol.  L,  p.  405)  as  a  Justice  between  1720- 
1740.  He  was  the  son  of  Robert  Beverley,  the  historian,  and 
Ursula  Byrd.  (Hening's  Statutes,  Vol.  8,  p.  227,  An  Act  to 
dock  the  entail  of  certain  lands,  whereof  Robert  Beverley, 
Esquire,  is  seized,  and  for  settling  other  lands  of  greater  value 
to  the  same  uses.)  Robert  Beverley  was  born  in  Virginia  about 
1675.  He  died  in  King  and  Queen  County  of  which  he  was 
Clerk,  1699-1702.  During  Sir  Edmund  Andros's  administration 
he  was  Clerk  of  the  Council  in  1697,  an  office  his  father  held 
before  him.  He  wrote  the  "Histoiy  of  the  Present  State  of 
Virginia"  (4  Vols.,  published  in  London,  1705).  This  included 
an  account  of  the  first  settlement  of  Virginia,  and  the  history 
of  the  government  until  his  time.  Beverley  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  American  citizen  in  whose  behalf  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act  was  brought  into  requisition.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses  for  Jamestown,  1699,  1700,  1702, 
1706,  etc.  He  died  in  1716.  Like  the  second  William  Byrd  he 
was  a  product  of  the  social  influences  of  his  times  in  Virginia, 
and  almost  as  charming  as  the  second  master  of  Westover,  both 
of  whom  were  among  the  first,  and  certainly  the  most  celebrated, 
writers  in  the  Colony  of  their  day.  Robert  Beverley's  "History 
of  Virginia,"  by  which  he  is  chiefly  known,  says  Bruce,  "throws 
almost  as  much  light  on  the  general  spirit  of  that  day  as  the 
writings  of   Byrd   on   the   general   spirit   of   a   somewhat   later 


308  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

period.  The  fund  of  lurking  humor  which  it  contains  reflects 
the  happy  temper  of  his  Virginian  contemporaries :  there  is  in 
it  a  freshness,  a  spontaneity,  that  is  characteristic  of  a  youthful 
and  growing  community ;  a  keenness  and  minuteness  of  obser- 
vation possessed  only  by  those  who,  from  their  earliest  child- 
hood, have  been  close  to  nature  in  its  principal  forms ;  a  dis- 
position to  enjoy,  which,  taking  all  the  pleasures  and  amuse- 
ments of  life  as  they  come,  prefers  to  open  the  eyes  wide  to  the 
sunshine  and  to  blink  only  at  the  clouds ;  a  devoted  patriotism 
that  was  fostered  by  remoteness  from  the  Old  World :  and  a 
love  of  freedom  and  hatred  of  tyranny  that  were  nourished  by 
the  secluded  and  independent  life  of  the  large  plantation." 
(''Social  Life  of  Virginia,"  p.  176.) 

Col.  Robert  Beverley,  the  historian,  was  the  son  of  Alaj. 
Robert  Beverley,  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  first  of  the 
name  in  A^irginia,  and  Katherine  Hone,  buried  at  Jamestown, 
who  was  either  the  widow  or  daughter  of  Theophelus  Hone  of 
James  City.  He  was  married  in  Gloucester  County,  March  28, 
1679.  (See  Meade  and  Hening. )  The  immigrant.  Major 
Beverley,  who  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  England,  and  died  March 
15,  1686,  settled  in  Jamestown  about  the  year  1663,  and  from 
tlience  moved  to  Middlesex  County,  where  he  was  a  Justice  in 
1673.  He  was  a  long  time  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Burgesses 
from  1670,  a  lawyer  by  profession.  Councilor  of  Virginia  in 
1676,  and  a  prominent  actor  in  Bacon's  Rebellion  in  which  he 
held  the  King's  Commission  as  major.  He  was  indicted  and 
convicted  of  complicity  in  the  Tobacco  Conspiracy  of  1682,  and 
other  offenses,  but  later  pardoned.  (For  a  full  account  of  his 
services  see  Hening's  Statutes,  Vol.  3,  p.  541,  et  seq.,  and  for  his 
male  heirs  Ibid.,  Vol.  8,  p.  227,  ct  seq.)  He  was  perhaps  the 
wealthiest  man  in  the  Colony.  It  need  only  be  added  here  that 
Maj.  Robert  Beverley,  his  son,  his  grandson,  and  his  great- 
grandson  all  played  prominent  parts  in  the  history  of  Colonial 
Virginia,  Major  Beverley  being  often  spoken  of  as  a  martyr  in 
the  cause  of  liberty.  They  were  all  vestrymen  of  the  established 
church  and  ardent  Church  of  England  men.  The  family  in 
England  had  been  associated  with  the  town  of  Beverley  since  the 
days  of  King  John. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         309 

The  Beverley  arms  are : 

Arms:   Ermine,  a  rose  gules,  barbed  and  seeded,  ppr. 

Ursula  Byrd,  wife  of  Robert  Beverley,  the  historian,  was  the 
daughter  of  Hon.  William  Byrd  of  "Westover,"  who  was  born 
November,  1652;  died  1704.  His  wife  was  Mary  Horsmander. 
born  1653.  died  November  9,  1699,  daughter  of  Col.  Warham 
Horsmander  of  Purley,  Essex,  England,  member  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Council.  (See  any  Byrd  Genealogy.)  Ursula  Byrd  died 
October  31.  1698.  aged  sixteen  years  and  eleven  months. 

Hon.  William  Byrd,  of  "\\'estover,"  was  a  very  distinguished 
member  of  Virginia  Colonial  Society.  He  was  the  first  of  his 
name  in  America,  coming  to  Virginia  from  Broxton  in  Cheshire 
about  1674  to  inherit  the  estate  of  his  uncle.  Captain  Stegg.  who 
was  an  officer  of  King  Charles  I.  First  of  "Belvidere,"  Henrico 
County,  he  bought  "Westover"  from  Theoderick  Bland  and 
settled  there. 

William  Byrd  was  descended  on  his  father's  side  from  a 
family  of  Brexton.  or  Broxton,  which  is  traced  in  Holmes's 
"Heraldic  Collection  for  Cheshire"  to  the  family  of  the  same 
name  which  was  living  at  Charlton  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century.  John  Byrd,  or  Bird,  as  it  w^as  then  spelled, 
was  a  goldsmith  in  London.  He  was  an  honest  tradesman  of 
means,  but  the  glimpses  of  his  family  which  we  get  from  the 
letters  of  his  eldest  son  indicate  that  he  was  neither  rich  nor 
influential.  He  married  Grace,  the  daughter  of  Capt.  Thomas 
Stegg,  whom  Charles  II.  in  1650,  while  in  Breda,  appointed  a 
Councilor  of  Virginia,  but  which  appointment  was  not  accepted. 
William  Byrd  was  the  oldest  of  the  seven  children  of  John  Byrd. 
He  was  Justice,  Sheriff,  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  of 
the  Council  of  V^irginia  in  1681,  and  in  1687  Auditor-General. 
His  career  was  a  remarkable  one,  and  he  was  known  as  the 
"first  gentleman  of  Virginia,"  living  in  great  elegance  at  "West- 
over."  where  he  is  buried  beneath  a  handsome  monument.  (See 
genealogical  sketch  included  in  the  Westover  Manuscripts, 
Bassett. ) 


310  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

The  Byrd  arms  are : 

Arms  :  Argent  a  cross  floiy,  between  four  martlets 
gules,  on  a  canton  azure  a  crescent  of  the 
field  for  difference. 

Crest  :    A  bird  rising  gules. 

Elizabeth  Bland,  the  wife  of  Capt.  William  Beverley  of 
"Blandfield,"  was  of  a  most  distinguished  parentage.  The  Vir- 
ginia family  of  Bland  are  of  the  same  line  as  Sir  Thomas  Bland, 
of  Kippax  Park,  Yorkshire,  who  was  created  a  Baronet  by 
Charles  I.,  30  August,  1642.  John  Bland  of  Syth  Lane,  London, 
and  Plaistow,  Essex,  born  1673,  married  Susan  Duclere,  born 
1590,  died  1664.  His  pedigree  is  given  in  Slaughter's  "Bristol 
Parish  back  to  1337  A.  D."  The  fifteenth  child  of  John  Bland 
was  Theoderic,  the  immigrant,  who  came  to  Virginia  in  1654. 
He  was  baptized  January  16,  1629,  at  St.  Antholin's,  London, 
and  died  April  23,  1671.  He  built  "Westover,"  sold  that  estate 
to  Hon.  William  Byrd,  and  then  resided  at  "Berkeley."  He  was 
buried  in  the  chancel  of  the  "Westover"  Church,  which  church 
he  built  and  gave,  with  ten  acres  of  land,  a  courthouse  and 
prison,  to  the  county  and  parish.  His  tomb  is  now  to  be  seen 
in  the  old  "Westover"  graveyard,  lying  between  two  of  his 
friends,  William  Perry  and  Walter  Aston.  .  .  .  He  was 
one  of  the  King's  Council  for  A^irginia  (1665),  and  was  both  in 
fortune  and  intellect  inferior  to  no  man  in  the  Colony.  He 
married  Anne  Bennett,  who  died  November,  1687.  She  w^as  the 
daughter  of  Col.  Richard  Bennett  of  "Weyanoke,"  a  planter  of 
large  fortune  and  relative  of  Lord  Arlington,  whose  family 
name  was  Bennett.  Richard  Bennett  was  a  nephew  of  Edward 
Bennett,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  London,  and  member  of  the 
Virginia  Company.  A  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  in 
1629  and  1631,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Council  in  1649.  The 
latter  year  he  removed  to  Maryland.  In  1651  he  \vas  appointed 
by  Parliament  one  of  the  Commissioners  to  reduce  Virginia  and 
Maryland  to  submission.  After  that  was  accomplished  he  was 
elected  Governor  of  Virginia,  April  30,  1652,  by  the  General 
Assembly  and  served  as  such  until  March,  1655.  In  1658  he 
was  again  a  member  of  the  Council,  and  1666  was  major-general 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         311 

of  the  Virginia  Militia.  His  will  was  dated  March  15,  1674, 
and  was  proved  in  Nansemond  County,  April  12,  1675.  He 
married  Mary  Ann  Utie.  One  of  his  daughters  married  Col. 
Charles  Scarburgh  of  the  Council  from  Accomack.  (See 
Chapter  I.) 

The  Bennett  arms  are  : 

Arms  :    Gules  a  bezant  between  three  demi  lions  rampant 

argent. 
Crest  :    Out  of  a  mural  coronet  or,  a  lion's  head  gules, 

on  the  neck  a  bezant. 

Theoderic  Bland  and  Anne  Bennett  had  three  sons,  Theoderic, 
Richard,  and  John.  Of  these,  Richard  Bland  was  born  at 
"Berkeley"  in  1665,  and  married,  first,  a  Miss  Sw-an;  and, 
secondly.  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  Randolph  of  "Turkey 
Island."  He  died  April  6,  1720.  His  da\ighters,  three  in  num- 
ber, married  Henry  Lee,  Robert  Monford,  and  Capt.  William 
Beverley.  His  sons  were  Colonel  Richard,  born  May  6,  1700,, 
and  Colonel  Theoderic,  w'ho  moved  to  Prince  George  County.. 
They  lived  at  "Jordans"  and  "Causons,"  near  City  Point. 
Richard  was  the  one  who  took  so  active  a  part  in  the  affairs  of 
both  Church  and  State  before  and  during  the  Revolution.  Edu- 
cated at  William  and  Mary  College,  he  became  a  fine  classical 
scholar  and  was  an  oracle  touching  the  rights  of  the  colonies. 
First  he  wrote  a  treatise  on  baptism  against  the  Quakers,  of 
which  sect  some  of  his  ancestors  or  relatives  in  England  had 
been.  Then  he  became  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses 
from  1745  until  his  death — a  period  of  thirty-one  years;  and 
he  was  one  of  the  most  active  of  its  patriotic  members.  In 
1774  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  but  declined 
to  serve  the  next  year.  In  1766  he  published  one  of  the  ablest 
tracts  of  the  time,  entitled  "An  Inquiry  Into  the  Rights  of  the 
British  Colonies."  His  book  was  an  answer  to  "Regulations 
Concerning  the  Colonies,  Etc."  In  1758  he  wrote  on  the  con- 
troversy between  the  clergy  and  the  assembly  concerning  the 
tobacco  tax.  His  perfect  mastery  of  every  fact  connected  with 
the  settlement  and  progress  of  the  Colony  has  given  him  the 


312  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

name  of  the  Virginia  antequary.  He  was  a  politician  of  the 
first  class,  a  profound  logician,  and  was  also  considered  as  the 
first  writer  in  the  Colony.  (See  Jefferson's  Notes;  Wirt's 
"Life  of  Patrick  Henry.")  He  died  in  Williamsburg,  Va., 
October  26.  1776.  where  he  was  buried. 

Elizabeth  Bland,  wife  of  Capt.  \\'illiam  Beverley,  and  sister 
of  the  learned  patriot,  Richard  Bland,  was  herself  a  writer  of 
force.  In  referring  to  her  letters  to  her  father  in  possession  of 
the  Virginia  Historical  Society,  Col.  W.  Gordon  McCabe,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Society,  in  one  of  his  matchless  and  sparkling  reports 
(1916  Proceedings,  p.  xi. ),  wrote:  "Their  charm  is  no  whit 
im])aired  by  a  variegated,  not  to  say  picturesque,  orthography, 
which  the  most  radical  'Spelling  Reformer'  has  never  rivalled  in 
his  most  daring  aberrations  from  the  norm.  Nor  do  these 
eccentricities  of  orthography,  even  in  a  more  exaggerated  degree, 
detract  from  our  keen  interest  in  the  letters  of  Mistress  Eliza- 
beth Beverley  of  'Blandfield,'  Essex  Co evidently  a 

'Colonial  Dame'  of  masterful  mind.      ..." 

Here  let  the  Bland  arms  be  noted : 

Arms  :    Argent  on  a  bend  sable  three  pheons  of  the  field. 
Crest  :   Out  of  a  ducal  coronet  or,  a  lion's  head  ppr. 
Motto  :    Spcrate  ct  virtue  fortes. 

Richard  Bland,  father  of  Elizabeth  Bland,  married,  secondly, 
her  mother,  Elizabeth  Randolph,  who  died  January  22,  1719. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  the  famous  Col.  William  Randolph  of 
"Turkey  Island,"  first  of  the  name  to  settle  in  Virginia,  who  was 
Justice  of  Henrico,  1683-1711;  Burgess,  1685-99,  and  1703-05. 
and  again  in  1710;  Attorney-General  in  1696;  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  1668;  Clerk  of  the  House  in  1702.  /\fter 
possessing  himself  of  "Turkey  Island."  bordering  on  Charles 
City  County,  he  added  numerous  other  estates,  on  which  he 
settled  his  sons  and  built  excellent  houses  for  them  all.  He 
married  Mary  Isham.  daughter  of  Henry  and  Katherine  Isham 
of  Bermuda  Hundred.  Sir  John  Randolph  was  one  of  his  seven 
distinguished  sons.     He  had  two  daughters.     Frances  married. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


313 


first,  John  Randolph,  father  of  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke; 
and,  second,  St.  George  Tucker.  Oil  portraits  of  William  Ran- 
dolph and  Mary  Isham,  his  wife,  are  extant. 

The  Randolphs  in  England  had  been  most  active  in  their 
support  of  the  royal  cause.  The  family  had  enjoyed  some  dis- 
tinction in  England,  not  the  smallest  part  of  which  was  derived 


WILLIAM    RANDOLPH,   of   "Turkey    Island" 


from  the  fame  of  a  member  who  had  become  celebrated  as  one 
of  the  first  poets  of  that  day.  They  were,  to  use  the  words  of 
one  of  their  number,  "Entirely  broken  and  dispersed"  by  the 
upshot  of  the  Civil  War,  but,  in  emigrating  to  Virginia,  WilHam 
Randolph  took  the  first  important  step,  not  only  towards  restor- 
ing the  fortunes  of  his  family,  but  also  towards  raising  those 
fortunes  to  a  point  which  had  not  been  reached  in  England.  Be- 
fore the  close  of  the  colonial  period  a  series  of  noble  plantations 


314  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

in  the  most  fertile  part  of  the  country  along  the  lower  James 
River  had  become  the  property  of  the  Randolphs  in  their  various 
branches.  Here  they  lived  in  a  state  of  afHuence  remarkable  even 
in  the  most  prosperous  days  of  the  Colony,  filling  a  succession 
of  high  public  offices,  receiving  the  honor  of  knighthood,  inter- 


MARY   ISHAM 
Wife  of  William   Randolph,   of  "Turkey  Island" 

marrying  with  all  the  most  powerful   families,  and  enjoying  a 
degree  of  social  and  political  influence  unsurpassed  in  those  times. 

The  Randolph  arms  are : 

Arms:   Gules  on  a  cross  or,  five  mullets  of  the  first. 
Crest  :    An  antelope's  head  couped,  holding  in  its  mouth 
a  stick  or. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         315 

Henry  Isham  of  Bermuda  Hundred  was  in  Virginia  in  1656. 
He  married  Katherine,  widow  of  Joseph  Royall  of  Henrico, 
and  died  about  1675.  Katherine  Isham's  will  is  dated  August 
10,  1686,  and  was  probated  in  Henrico  in  December  of  that 
year,  so  she  must  have  died  in  1686. 

The  Isham  arms  are : 

Arms  :   Gules,  three  piles  wavy  or,  over  all  a  fesse  of  the 
second. 

Henry  Isham  belonged  to  a  family  which  had  been  long  seated 
in  Northamptonshire,  and  which  has  retained  its  high  social  posi- 
tion down  to  the  present  day,  when  it  is  represented  in  the  Eng- 
lish baronetage.  He  was  a  nephew  of  Sir  Edward  Brett,  of 
Blendenhall,  Kent,  who  had  been  knighted  by  Charles  I.  for 
brilliant  services  as  an  officer,  and  who  by  his  will  seems  to  have 
devised  a  considerable  estate  to  Henry  Isham's  two  daughters. 
Henry  Isham  resided  in  Virginia  for  a  time,  but  probably  re- 
turned to  England  and  died  there.  ( Waters's  Gleanings,  pp. 
447-8.) 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
Maria  Carter. 


Wife  of  Robert  Beverley, 
Her  Ancestry. 


Carter,  Byrd,  Landon,  Ludlowe,  Taylor. 


Maria  Carter,  wife  of  Robert  Beverley,  son  of  Capt.  William 
Beverley,  was  the  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Landon  Carter,  of 
"Sabine  Hall,"  and  Maria  Byrd.  She  was  a  great-granddaughter 
of  the  immigrant,  John  Carter,  of  "Corotoman,"  who  first 
settled  in  Upper  Norfolk,  now  Nansemond  County.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  1649,  and  in  1654  was 
again  a  member,  this  time  from  Lancaster  County.  The  latter 
year  he  was  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  forces  sent  against  the 
Rappahannock  Indians.  He  died  in  1669.  His  first  wife  was 
Jane,  daughter  of  Morgan  Glynn,  by  whom  he  had  George  and 
Eleanor :  he  married,  second,  Ann,  daughter  of  Cleve  Carter, 
probably  of  England,  by  whom  he  had  Charles  and  John ;  and, 
third,  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Gabriel  and  Phillis  Ludlowe. 
Gabriel  Ludlowe  was  a  nephew  of  Gen.  Edmund  Ludlowe  of  the 
Parliamentary  Army.  By  Sarah  Ludlowe,  John  Carter  had 
Sarah  and  Robert.  (For  Ludlowe  genealogy  see  New  Eng. 
Hist.  &  Gen.  Reg.,  Vol.  24,  pp.  181-84.) 

All  of  John  Carter's  wives  died  before  his  own  death,  and 
he  was  buried  with  them,  near  the  chancel  of  Christ  Church, 
Lancaster,  which  he  built,  and  a  single  tombstone  covers  them  all. 

There  is  no  positive  information  as  to  the  origin  of  John 
Carter  of  "Corotoman,"  though  it  is  believed  that  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Carter  family  long  seated  in  Hertfordshire.  This 
is  claimed  in  the  Carter  tree  and  genealogies.  The  prominence 
of  this  family  in  Mrginia,  which  has  been  almost  exclusively 
social,  really  began  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  with  Robert 
Carter,  who  combined  with  extraordinary  wealth,  partly  in- 
herited and  partly  accumulated  by  his  own  efforts,  a  remarkable 
personal  impressiveness.  The  two  together  led  to  his  receiving 
the  name  of  "King"  Carter. 

Robert  "King"  Carter  was  president  of  the  Council  of  Vir- 
ginia and  acting  governor  from  the  death  of  Drysdale,  July  22, 
1726,  until  the  arrival  of  William  Gooch  about  October,  1727. 
He  was  born  in  \"irginia  in  1663.  For  many  years  he  was  the 
agent  of  Lord  Fairfax,  the  proprietor  of  the  Northern  Neck 
grant.     He  was  Treasurer  of  the  Colony,  Speaker  of  the  House 


320 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


of  Burgesses,  1694-9,  and  member  of  the  Council  for  twenty- 
seven  years — 1699-1726.  His  principal  residence  was  "Coroto- 
man,"  in  Lancaster  County,  on  the  Rappahannock,  which  was 
the  home  of  his  father.  He  built  many  fine  houses,  including 
"Carter  Hall"  in  Clark  County,  and  "Sabine  Hall,"  for  his  son 
Landon,  in  Richmond  County.     He  died  August  4,   1732,  and 


ROBERT    "KING"   CARTER,   of   "Corotoman" 

is  buried  beside  his   father  and  wife,   "Betty"   Landon,  in  the 
church  which  his  father  built  in  Lancaster. 

His  portrait  shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  striking  appear- 
ance and  elegance  of  style.  He  and  the  second  William  Byrd, 
who  were  the  most  distinguished  members  of  their  families, 
were  both  born  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  their  characters  were  largely  moulded  by  the  influences 
which    then    prevailed.      In    their   affluent    style   of    life,    great 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS 


321 


landed  estates,  troops  of  dependents,  lordly  deportment,  and  far- 
reaching  authority,  they  were  the  equals  of  the  first  proprietors 
among  the  English  country  gentry  of  their  day. 

Robert  "King"  Carter  married,  first,  Judith  Armistead, 
daughter  of  Hon.  John  Armistead,  of  the  Council  of  Virginia. 
She    died    Februarv    23,    1699.      He    then    married    Elizabeth 


BETTY    LANDON 

Wife   of   Robert   "King"    Carter,   of   "Corotoman" 


(Betty)  Landon,  who  was  the  widow  Willis.  "Betty"  Landon 
was  born  in  1674,  and  died  July  3,  1710.  Her  tombstone  is 
to  be  seen  at  Christ  Church,  Lancaster  County.  Her  portrait 
portrays  a  very  beautiful  woman.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  Landon,  Esq.,  member  of  an  ancient  family  of  Grednal, 
Hereford  County,  England.  She  bore  her  husband  five  sons 
and    five   daughters,    the    former   including   Landon   Carter   of 


2>22 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


"Sabine  Hall."  (Meade,  Vol.  H.,  p.  122.)  Robert  "King" 
Carter's  eldest  brother,  John,  by  his  first  wife,  married  Miss 
Hill,  and  became  Secretary  of  the  Colony. 

Landon  Carter,  of  "Sabine  Hall,"  Richmond  County,  was  born 
June  7,  1709.  He  was  educated  at  William  and  Mary  College, 
and  then  entered  public  life,  being  a  member  of  the  House  of 


LANDON    CARTER,   of   "Sabine   Hall" 


Burgesses  from  1748  to  1769,  inclusive.  He  was  a  strong 
defender  of  the  Two  Penny  Act  in  1757,  and  engaged  in  a 
notorious  pamphlet  war  with  Dr.  John  Camm,  the  head  of  the 
clerorv.  In  this  controversy  he  took  the  somewhat  Prussian  view 
that  "necessity  made  its  own  law."  In  1764  he  was  a  member 
of  the  committee  which  reported  the  remonstrance  against  the 
Stamp  Act.  and  was  said  to  have  been  largely  instrumental  in 
drafting  that  paper.     He  contributed  many  articles  on  scientific 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         323 

subjects  to  the  "American  Philosophical  Transactions,"  and  to 
the  newspapers,  and  kept  an  interesting  diary.  His  corre- 
spondence with  Richard  Henry  Lee  is  also  most  interesting.  He 
was  chairman  of  the  Richmond  County  Committee  of  Safety, 
but,  while  he  strongly  condemned  the  arbitrary  action  of  Great 
Britain,  he  deplored  the  action  of  the  Virginia  Convention  of 
1776  in  declaring  independence,  for  he  feared  that  the  Colony 
would  fall  into  a  worse  situation  under  a  Republican  govern- 
ment. He,  nevertheless,  patriotically  cast  in  his  fortunes  with 
his  country.  His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John 
Wormeley  of  "Rosegill."  He  married,  second,  Maria  Byrd, 
sister  of  the  most  celebrated  colonial  beauty — Evelyn  Byrd — 
and  daughter  of  Col.  William  Byrd  H.  of  ''Westover."  His 
third  wife  was  Elizabeth  Beale  of  Richmond  County.  His 
portrait  shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  commanding  appear- 
ance and,  like  his  father,  a  gentleman  of  great  elegance  of  style. 

The  Carter  arms  are : 

Arms  :   Argent  a  chevron  between  three  cart  wheels  vert. 

Crest  :  On  a  mount  vert  a  greyhound  sejant  argent,  sus- 
taining a  shield  of  the  last  charged  with  a 
cart  wheel  vert. 

Maria  Byrd,  the  wife  of  Landon  Carter,  though  not  as  beauti- 
ful, according  to  her  portrait,  as  her  sister  Evelyn,  was  a  woman 
of  great  beauty.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Col.  William  Byrd  II., 
of  "Westover,"  and  Mary  Taylor,  born  January  16,  1721,  died 
November  29,  1744,  eldest  daughter  and  heiress  of  Thomas 
Taylor  of  Kensington,  England.  Colonel  Byrd  and  Mary  Taylor 
were  married  in  England  September  16,  1743.  He  was  the  son 
of  Hon.  William  Byrd  I.  (see  Chapter  XXL),  and  was  born 
March  28,  1674,  and  died  in  1744.  He  is  buried  at  "West- 
over,"  the  stateliest  home  of  Colonial  Virginia.  His  father  early 
manifested  an  intention  to  aggrandize  his  oldest  child  and  name- 
sake, and  bestowed  every  advantage  of  travel  and  education 
abroad  upon  William  Byrd  11.  Much  has  been  written  of  Col. 
William  Byrd  of  "Westover."  He  is  noted  as  the  foremost 
colonial  writer,  and  to-day  his  Westover  Manuscripts  are  read 
with  delight.     He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  some  of  the  most 


324 


Col.   IOHX  WISE 


remakable  personages  in  England,  and  was  easily  the  foremost 
figure,  socially  and  politically,  of  \^irginia  in  his  time.  His 
intimate  friends  included  such  men  as  Boyle,  the  scientist,  and 
Lord  Peterborough,  the  dandy  and  soldier,  whose  hand  for  his 
daughter,  Evelyn,  Colonel  Byrd  is  said  to  have  refused.     "The 


COL.  WILLIAM   BYRD    II.,  of   "Westover" 


history  of  his  times,  whether  Colonial  or  English,  does  not  fur- 
nish a  more  charming  or  more  attractive  figure  than  he.  In 
possession  of  a  large  fortune,  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  that  the 
noblest  English  literary  culture  and  the  finest  school  of  English 
manners  could  impart,  and  blessed  with  much  that  Nature  im- 
plants in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  her  children  only  in  her  most 
generous,  lively,  and  stately  moods,  Byrd  became,  at  an  early 
age,  one  of  the  most  brilliant,  one  of  the  most  accomplished,  and 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         325 

one  of  the  most  lovable  gentlemen  of  his  time,"  so  wrote  Dr. 
Bruce.  The  history  of  Col.  William  Byrd  II.  is  to  be  found  in 
the  history  of  the  Colony.  It  has  also  been  preserved  in  most 
attractive  form  by  his  own  writings,  and  in  various  traditions 


MARIA   BYRD 

Wife  of  Landon  Carter,  of  "Sabine  HaU'^ 


and  novels,  principal  among  the  latter  being  "His  Great  Self." 
by  Marion  Harland ;  the  romantic  love  story  of  Evelyn  Byrd: 
and  "Audrey,"  by  Miss  Mary  Johnston.  Several  fine  portraits 
of  William  Byrd  are  extant.  (For  a  full  and  complete  sketch 
of  the  Byrds  see  Bassett's  introduction  to  the  Westover  Manu- 
scripts. ) 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Nancy  Hamilton. 


Wife  of  Hugh  Douglas, 
Her  Ancestry. 


Hamilton,  Guy,  Kinkead,  Hale,  Smith,  Offutt, 
Warner,  Mathews,  Reade. 


Our  record  up  to  this  point  has  dealt  with  the  early  settle- 
ment of  New  England.  New  Jersey.  Pennsylvania,  and  Eastern 
Virginia,  and  has  touched  upon  the  French  and  Indian  Wars, 
the  Revolution,  the  War  of  1812.  the  War  between  the  States, 
and  various  other  heroic  chapters  in  the  history  of  the  nation. 
We  now  come  to  a  chapter,  perhaps,  the  most  romantic  of  any. 
Hitherto  we  have  dealt  with  the  great  English  planter  class  in 
Eastern  Virginia — those  old  nabobs  who  established  themselves 
along  the  James  and  in  the  tidewater  section  of  Virginia — and 
with  the  English  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania. 
We  now  come  to  an  entirely  different  class  of  people,  the  sturdy 
Scotch  Presbyterians,  who  came  to  the  Old  Dominion  by  way 
of  Pennsylvania  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  resolutely  oc- 
cupied the  imperial  domain  known  as  the  Valley  of  Virginia. 

There  is  one  thing  concerning  the  first  century  of  English 
settlements  in  America  that  can  not  escape  the  observation  of 
the  student.  During  that  period  no  progress  worth  considera- 
tion was  made  by  any  of  the  Colonies  in  penetrating  the  interior 
of  the  continent. 

As  late  as  1710  Governor  Spotswood  wrote  the  Council  in 
London  that  some  of  his  Western  settlers  had  seen  the  moun- 
tains, and  they  were  not  over  one  hundred  miles  distant.  For  a 
hundred  years  the  Massachusetts  settlers  huddled  together  on 
the  coast,  while  the  French  advanced  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  sailed 
upon  and  named  Lake  Champlain,  and  located  along  the  coasts 
of  the  great  lakes.  During  all  that  period  the  Dutch  and  English 
never  advanced  inland  beyond  Schenectady.  Meanwhile  the 
French  had  occupied  Vermont,  and  but  for  an  error  they  made 
in  allying  themselves  with  the  xAlgonquins  against  the  great  con- 
federacy of  Iroquois  and  Mohawks  in  northern  New  York,  they 
would  have  occupied  the  entire  Mohawk  region  of  New  York, 
in  all  probability. 

It  was  not  until  the  coming  of  a  new  race  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century  that  any  substantial  progress  was  made  in 
pioneer  work  in  any  of  the  old  Colonies.  Between  1705  and 
1735    a    new    element    was    infrsed    irto    An-:eric?.n    life.      The 


330  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Scotchmen  who  had  settled  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  had 
saved  Ireland  to  the  Protestant  cause  by  their  immortal  defense 
of  Londonderry  in  the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  re- 
ceived from  William  and  Mary  and  their  successors  nothing  but 
proscription  as  a  reward.  They  were  driven  by  persecution  in 
large  number  to  America.  A  few  landed  in  New  England. 
But  New  England  ideas  did  not  suit  them,  and  so  they  at  once 
pressed  forward  to  make  settlements  of  their  own,  and  were 
soon  masters  of  New  Hampshire,  where  they  founded  the  towns 
of  Londonderry,  Dublin,  Derry,  Lochhaven,  Newcastle,  and 
many  others  whose  names  indicate  their  origins. 

A  few  of  the  Scotch-Irish,  who  were  merely  Scotch  Pres- 
byterians, from  North  Ireland,  settled  in  New  York.  They 
were  quick  to  separate  from  the  dwellers  along  the  coast,  and, 
proceeding  with  characteristic  independence  to  the  mountains, 
settled  the  counties  of  Ulster  and  Washington  and  the  Mohawk 
Valley,  and  gave  to  the  colony  Sir  William  Johnson,  its  greatest 
pioneer. 

The  Scotch-Irish  literally  overran  the  Quaker  Colony  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  population  of  which  increased  with  their  com- 
ing from  30,000  in  1705  to  250,000  in  1735.  They  also  took 
possession  of  New  Jersey,  where  they  founded  Princeton  Col- 
lege and  established  a  dominance  that  has  persisted. 

In  Pennsylvania  they  founded  the  colleges  at  Easton  and 
Carlisle,  and  possessed  themselves  of  Western  Pennsylvania  up 
to  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie.  About  1730,  owing  to  some  local 
controversies  with  the  Pennsylvanian  authorities,  a  small  body 
of  the  Scotch-Irish  under  the  leadership  of  John  Lewis,  as  we 
shall  see,  determined  to  leave  Pennsylvania.  They  entered  Vir- 
ginia by  her  back  door,  so  to  speak,  and  after  peopling  the  rich 
Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  pressed  southward  up  the  Valley  to 
the  region  about  Staunton  and  Fincastle,  settling  a  section  of 
the  Old  Dominion  wholly  neglected  by  its  earlier  tenants  up  to 
this  time.  We  shall  see  that  in  time  they  pressed  westward  and 
southward,  settling  Western  North  Carolina,  Northern  South 
Carolina,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee.  Isaac  Shelby,  Daniel 
Boone,  George  Rogers  Clarke,  and  Andrew  Lewis  in  Kentucky ; 
John  Sevier  in  Tennessee ;   Lewis  and  Clarke,  who  first  explored 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         331 

the  far  West ;  and  Sam  Houston,  of  Texas,  were  but  the  leaders 
of  that  dauntless  band  of  Scotch-Irishmen  who  hailed  from  West 
Augusta. 

The  first  passage  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  or  discovery  of  the  Valley, 
was  effected  by  Governor  Spots  wood  at  the  head  of  a  small 
troop  of  horse  in  August,  1716.  Passing  through  Swift  Run 
Gap,  and  crossing  the  picturesque  Shenandoah  River  a  few 
miles  north  of  the  present  site  of  Port  Republic,  the  "Knights 
of  the  Golden  Horseshoe"  beheld  a  region  of  amazing  beauty 
and  fertihty,  hitherto  comprising  a  bloody  arena  for  the  savages 
who  jealously  contended  for  it,  but  virtually  unknown  to  the 
Virginians. 

The  glowing  accounts  of  this  wonderful  region  given  by 
Spotswood's  party  at  once  excited  the  spirit  of  enterprise  and 
adventure  in  the  people  of  Eastern  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania. 
Though  the  approach  to  the  upper  country  was  difficult  either 
from  the  north  or  east,  from  the  want  of  roads  and  bridges, 
and  though  the  hills  were  infested  with  roving  bands  of  savages, 
many  adventurous  families,  and  even  small  communities  as  a 
whole,  "trekked"  across  the  Blue  Ridge,  or  down  the  Valley 
from  north  of  the  Potomac,  in  ever-increasing  numbers.  A 
vivid  picture  of  the  country  had  been  painted  by  its  explorers. 
It  was  said  to  be  a  veritable  garden  of  peace  and  plenty,  luxuriant 
with  fruit,  rich  in  minerals  and  timber,  a  verdant  pasture  for 
herds  of  deer,  and  a  favored  retreat  for  game  of  every  kind. 
The  forbidding  Blue  Ridge  may  have  quelled  the  curiosity  of  the 
English  colonists  to  the  east  for  a  full  century.  For  the  sturdy 
Scotchmen  of  Pennsylvania  they  held  no  terrors.  Accordingly, 
in  1732,  sixteen  families  crossed  the  Potomac  and  settled  near 
the  present  town  of  Winchester.  So  came  John  Lew^is  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  that  vast  region  known  during  the  period  of 
settlement  of  which  we  write  as  Augusta  County,  Virginia.  It 
was  a  princely  domain,  and  offered  high  reward  to  those  who 
braved  the  terrors  of  the  remorseless  conflict  with  the  Indians 
w^hich  its  occupancy  entailed.  But  the  men  who  followed  Lewis 
were  strong  of  heart,  and  no  less  their  wives. 

Augusta  County,  formed  from  Orange,  in  1738,  grew  rapidly 
in  population.     In   1745  there  was  a  sufficient  number  of  in- 


ZU  '  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

habitants  to  justify  the  creation  of  separate  courts.  The  original 
settlers  of  Augusta  not  only  rescued  their  fields  from  the  forest, 
but  cultivated  them  with  their  own  hands.  Every  man  bore  his 
share  of  the  common  burden  of  defense,  and  every  male  child 
became  accustomed  in  his  youth  to  toil  and  the  most  terrible  and 
cunning  forms  of  warfare.  The  horse,  the  flint-lock,  the 
Scottish  dirk,  the  axe,  and  the  plow  were  equally  familiar  as 
they  were  equally  essential  to  his  life. 

The  men  who  united  with  Lewis  were  those  who  themselves, 
or  whose  sons,  fought  at  King's  Mountain,  among  whom  were 
the  r^Iadisons,  and  the  Pattons,  and  the  Prestons,  and  the  Per- 
kinses, and  the  Breckenridges,  and  the  Hamiltons.  and  the 
Kinkeads,  and  the  Guys. 

Along  with  John  Lewis,  or  soon  after  his  first  settlement  in 
Augusta,  came  two  brothers  from  Pennsylvania,  Archibald  and 
Andrew  Hamilton.  The  exact  date  of  their  arrival  in  Augusta 
is  not  known.  They  were  said  to  be  originally  from  the  North 
of  Ireland  and  descended  from  James  Hamilton,  Earl  of  Arran, 
Regent  of  Scotland  during  the  infancy  of  Mary  Stuart. 

Archibald  Hamilton,  whose  wife  was  Frances  Calhoun, 
patented  302  acres  of  land  on  Christian's  Creek  in  Beverley 
Manor,  which  he  purchased  for  the  nominal  sum  of  5  shillings, 
March  5,  1747.  He  sold  this  tract  in  Augusta  in  1748,  but 
patented  more  land  in  May,  1773.  He  was  a  constable  in  1747. 
and  in  1763  an  inspector  of  flour,  and  was  exempted  from 
militia  duty  in  1788  because  of  his  great  age.  His  will,  dated 
July  20,  1787,  was  probated  January,  1794.  He  had  five  sons — 
William,  John,  Andrew,  Audley,  Archibald — and  a  daughter, 
Lettice.  The  third  son.  Maj.  Andrew  Hamilton,  was  born  in 
1741.  He  married,  in  Augusta,  Jane  Magill,  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  in  1765  removed  to  South  Carolina  and  settled  at 
Abbeville,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Andrew  Pickens,  afterwards 
the  celel:)rated  General  Pickens,  who  had  gone  south  with  his 
parents  from  Augusta  several  years  previously.  Both  Hamilton 
and  Pickens  entered  the  military  service  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  The  former  ser\ed  throughout  the  war, 
first  as  captain,  then  as  major,  under  General  Pickens,  and  took 
part  in  all  the  important  battles  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         333 

At  one  time  he  was  imprisoned  in  a  blockhouse  on  his  own  estate. 
After  the  war  Major  Hamilton  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of 
South  Carolina,  and  continued  as  a  member  thereof  until  in- 
capacitated for  further  service  by  old  age.  Then  he  was  re- 
quested to  nominate  his  successor,  who  was  immediately  elected. 
He  died  January  19,  1835.  in  the  ninety-fifth  year  of  his  age, 
his  wife  having  died  April  20,  1826.  in  her  eighty-sixth  vear. 
They  were  both  buried  in  the  Upper  Long  Cane  Church,  of 
which  Maior  Hamilton  and  General  Pickens  are  said  to  have 
been  the  first  elders.  Major  Hamilton  left  manv  descendants, 
among  whom  are  the  Simonds  and  Revenels  of  Charleston, 
Parkers  and  ^^'aites  of  Columbia,  Calhouns  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  and  Alstons  and  Cabells  of  \''irginia.  ("Annals 
of  Augusta  Countv.  \^irginia."  Waddell,  First  Edition,  pp.  51, 
52.) 

October  16,  1765.  Thomas  Lewis,  eldest  son  and  heir  of  John 
Lewis,  Gent.,  deceased,  sold  the  other  brother  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, Andrew  Hamilton,  for  £50.  600  acres  Iving  on  Elk  Creek, 
a  branch  of  the  Calf  pasture.  This  land  had  been  patented  by 
John  Lewis  in  1743.  August  19,  1767,  Andrew  Hamilton  re- 
conveyed  the  tract  to  Thomas  Lewis. 

In  1773  Andrew  Hamilton  was  a  trustee  of  a  congregation  of 
dissenters,  so  it  is  evident  tliat  he  was  not  an  orthodox  Presby- 
terian at  that  time.  His  will  was  dated  February  15,  1788,  and 
probated  September  21.  1790,  his  son  William  being  named  as 
his  executor.  In  the  will  he  mentions  Martha,  his  wife,  sons 
\\'illiam  and  Andrew,  a  grandson  Andrew,  and  a  daughter 
]\Iartha,  wife  of  \\'illiam  Rennocks,  and  other  daughters.  To 
William  and  Andrew  he  left  his  library,  which  seems  to  have 
been  an  extensive  one,  and  to  each  of  his  children  and  to  his 
grandson  he  devised  250  acres  in  Kentucky.  In  1745  he  was 
living  on  the  Calfpasture,  a  neighbor  of  John  Lewis  and  Thomas 
Kinkead.  and  in  1790  was  spoken  of  as  of  great  age.  The  fol- 
lowing petition  of  1753,  to  which  the  name  of  Andrew  Hamilton 
is  appended,  is  of  interest  as  illustrating  the  manner  of  the  times : 

"To  the  Worshipful  Court  of  Augusta  now  sitting:  We,  the 
inhabitants  of  this  county,  have  long  felt  the  smart  of  the  great 
indulgence  the  ordinary  keepers  of  this  County  have  met  with  in 


334  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

allowing  them  to  sell  such  large  quantities  of  rum  and  wine  at 
an  extravagant  rate,  by  which  our  money  is  drained  the  County, 
for  which  we  have  no  return  but  a  fresh  supply  to  pick  our 
pocket.  We,  your  petitioners,  humbly  pray  your  worship  to  put 
a  stop  to  the  said  liquors,  which  would  encourage  us  to  pursue 
our  laborious  designs,  which  is  to  raise  sufficient  quantities  of 
grain  which  would  sufficiently  supply  us  with  liquors  and  the 
money  circulate  in  this  county  to  the  advantage  of  us,  the  same. 
We  hope  that  your  worship  will  discover  to  us  that  you  have  a 
real  regard  for  the  good  of  the  county,  and  lay  us  under  an 
obligation  to  pray  for  your  prosperity." 

Thus  appears  one  of  the  first  evidences  of  government 
economic  control  in  Augusta ! 

Two  William  Hamiltons  also  appear  in  the  earliest  records 
of  Augusta  County,  contemporaneously  with  Archibald  and 
Andrew,  one  whose  wife  was  Else  (Alice),  and  another  whose 
wife  was  Margaret  Hamilton,  widow  of  William  Guy  or  Gay. 
The  former  sold  to  Alexander  Hamilton  in  1767,  507  acres  on 
the  Calfpasture  for  £100.  The  latter  is  referred  to  in  the 
minutes  of  1769,  as  a  merchant,  late  of  Loudoun  County,  who 
had  made  an  assignment  in  bankruptcy.  In  October,  1763,  he 
conveyed  land,  and  in  August,  1771,  sold  97  acres  on  the  Middle 
Shenandoah  for  £37,  being  a  part  of  235  acres  patented  by  him 
July  20,  1768.  In  August,  1772,  he  conveyed  6  acres  to  John 
Poage,  and  another  tract  to  James  Kirkpatrick.  In  1769  he 
conveyed  100  acres  which  he  had  patented  May  29,  1760,  on  the 
Middle  Shenandoah,  to  his  son  Patrick,  for  £10.  In  May,  1761, 
he  was  exempted  because  of  his  age  from  militia  duty. 

There  were  many  other  Hamiltons  in  Augusta  from  the  first. 
The  relation  that  existed  between  them  and  Archibald  and 
Andrew,  if  any,  does  not  appear  from  the  records.  One  William 
Hamilton,  farmer,  whose  will  was  dated  January  22,  1795,  and 
probated  the  following  April,  purchased  February  27,  1749,  578 
acres  on  the  Calfpasture  from  Robert  Beverley,  patentee,  and 
more  land  in  1765  on  Kerr's  Creek.  His  wife  was  Patience,  his 
brothers  were  John  and  Robert,  and  his  sons  were  John,  Hugh, 
and  Andrew.  To  Andrew  he  left  his  home  plantation.  August 
29,  1754,  this  William  Hamilton  and  his  brother  Robert  both 


HIS  AXXESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         335 

swore  that  they  were  late  from  New  Castle,  Pa.,  on  the  Dela- 
ware. And  it  appears  that  John  and  Closes  Hamilton  hailed 
from  the  same  quarter. 

One  of  the  younger  William  Hamiltons  appears  from  the 
records  of  Augusta  to  have  been  something  of  a  miscreant. 
Frequently  delinquent  in  the  payment  of  his  taxes,  he  was  on 
more  than  one  occasion  sued  for  debt.  Inasmuch  as  a  Hamilton 
married  a  Kinkead,  the  following  interesting  extract  from  the 
records  is  inserted  here : 

"Augusta  County,  to  wit :  Whereas,  complaint  has  this  day 
been  made  to  me  by  the  Rev.  John  Kingkade  that  on  Wednesday, 
the  22nd  day  of  this  instant,  about  twelve  of  the  clock  at  night, 
when  he  and  his  family  were  in  bed  and  asleep,  they  were 
awakened  by  a  noise  out  of  ye  house,  upon  which  Mrs.  Kingkade 
rose  up  and  looking  out  saw  two  men  which,  to  the  best  of  her 
knowledge,  she  says  was  Robert  Nox  and  William  Hamilton, 
dressed  in  woman's  clothes,  on  which  she  asked  what  they 
wanted,  they  making  no  answer,  ran  against  the  door  and  made 
several  attempts  to  beat  it  open,  but  finding  they  could  not.  they 
pulled  a  table  cloth  out  of  the  window,  or  hole  in  the  house,  and 
after  tearing  it  to  pieces,  went  off.  As  the  said  John  Kingkade 
and  wife,  fearing  they  did  intend  some  harm  to  their  estate,  or 
lives  and  will  pursue  their  intended  wickedness,  these  are,  in  his 
Majesty's  name,  to  command  you  to  take  the  said  Robert  Nox 
and  William  Hamilton  and  bring  them  before  me,  or  some  other 
justice  of  the  peace  for  this  county  to  answer  the  said  complaint. 
Fail  not  to  execute  this  warrant  at  your  peril,  and  make  the 
return  thereof.  Given  under  my  hand  this  21st  day  of  April, 
1766.     To  any  sworn  officer  to  execute  and  return." 

Possibly  the  facts  set  out  in  this  warrant  constituted  a  case 
of  charivari  at  the  expense  of  the  Rev.  John  Kinkead  and  his 
family ! 

The  name  Guy  is  spelled  variously  in  the  Augusta  records — 
Gay,  Gays,  and  Guys.  It  was  probably  originally  Gay  and 
pronounced  Guy  by  the  Scotch.  Frontiersmen  and  ignorant 
communities  are  not  given  to  any  degree  of  particularity  about 
the  spelling  of  names,  and  even  in  the  most  enlightened  com- 
munities a  name  is  apt  in  time  to  be  spelled  as  it  is  pronounced. 


336  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

William  Guy  (Gay),  whose  widow,  Margaret  Hamilton, 
daughter  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  married  William  Hamilton, 
was  located  on  the  Calfpasture  in  1746.  He  was  a  constable  in 
1747.  His  will,  dated  May  7,  1755,  was  proved  August  20, 
1755,  his  wife  and  brother  John  Guy  being  his  executors.  In 
his  will  he  left  his  eldest  son  John  a  plantation,  known  as  the 
Stevenson  tract  and  then  occupied  by  one  Campbell ;  and  made 
bequests  to  his  daughters  Mary  and  Agnes.  His  son  William, 
who  married  Mary  Craig,  obtained  from  Beverley,  May  15, 
1754,  a  grant  of  410  acres  lying  on  both  sides  of  Little  River 
and  adjoining  his  father's  land.  He  was  an  orphan  in  1768, 
and  in  1791  his  depositions  were  taken  l^ecause  of  his  impending 
removal  to  Kentucky.     He  settled  on  the  French  Broad  River. 

Eleanor  Guy,  daughter  of  the  first  William,  who  died  in  1755, 
and  Margaret  Hamilton,  married  Capt.  William  Kinkead  of 
Augusta,  as  we  shall  see  later. 

We  now  return  to  the  first  Andrew  Hamilton.  Of  his  two 
sons,  William  and  Andrew\  William  seems  to  have  remained  in 
Augusta,  but  Andrew,  who  married  Isabella  Kinkead,  daughter 
of  Capt.  Wilham  Kinkead,  sold  his  estate  of  185  acres  on  the 
Calfpasture,  December  30,  1790,  to  Thomas  Hughart,  which 
was  devised  to  him  by  his  father,  and  removed  to  Woodford 
County,  Kentucky,  to  settle  upon  the  lands  which  he  also  in- 
herited from  his  father.  In  April,  1791,  his  wife,  Isabella,  was 
privily  examined  in  Woodford  County  before  George  Blackburn 
and  John  Finney  relative  to  her  waiver  of  her  dower  rights  in 
the  Augusta  lands. 

Capt.  William  Kinkead  was  born  January  19,  1736,  and  died 
May  3,  1821.  His  home  in  Augusta  was  Tinkling  Springs  on 
the  Calfpasture  River  near  the  present  site  of  Staunton.  He, 
too,  sold  his  farm  in  Augusta,  about  1788,  and  removed  with 
Andrew  Hamilton,  who  married  his  daughter,  to  Woodford 
County,  Kentucky. 

It  is  said  by  his  descendants  that  Captain  Kinkead  was  de- 
scended from  the  ancient  Scottish  family  of  Kincaid,  which  has 
had  its  seat  in  Sterlingshire  since  the  time  of  Edward  I.  The 
compiler  has  no  satisfactory  proof  of  this  claim.  That  his 
forebears  were   Scotch   and  that  they  came  to  Virginia   from 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         337 

Scotland  by  way  of  Ireland  and  Pennsylvania  there  is  no  doubt. 
Vain  efforts  were  made  to  obtain  access  to  the  valuable  papers  in 
possession  of  the  Kinkeads  of  Kentucky,  which  are  said  to  con- 
tain conclusive  proof  of  the  connection  mentioned. 

The  name  appears  in  the  records  variously — Kinkeade, 
Kinkead,  Kincaid,  Kinkade,  Kingcade,  etc.,  etc. 

Capt.  William  Kinkead's  father  was  Thomas  Kinkeade,  who 
came  to  Augusta  in  1747  from  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania. 
On  the  19th  of  November  of  that  year  he  bought  263  acres  on 
the  Calf  pasture  River  from  John  Preston,  Robert  Lockridge, 
and  Robert  Gwin.  He  died  intestate  in  1750,  leaving  a  widow 
whose  Christian  name  was  Margaret,  and  a  number  of  children 
of  whom  William  was  the  eldest.  It  would  seem  that  Thomas, 
David,  Winnifred,  John,  and  Elizabeth  Kinkead  were  other 
children  of  Thomas  and  Margaret  Kinkead. 

In  1753  William,  being  still  a  minor,  and  at  that  time  an 
orphan,  a  guardian  was  appointed  for  him  March  17th  of  that 
year.  His  father  left  a  considerable  estate,  and  Robert  Bratton 
and  William  Hamilton  were  required  as  bondsmen  for  the 
guardian. 

It  is  possible  that  Thomas  Kinkeade,  the  father  of  William, 
had  brothers  in  Augusta.  A  Rev.  John  Kinkeade  is  frequently 
referred  to  in  the  records. 

In  October,  1754,  John  Kinkead,  probably  the  son  of  the 
elder  Thomas  Kinkead,  and  who  declared  that  he  was  late  Clerk 
of  the  County  of  Chester,  in  Pennsylvania,  conveyed  to  John 
Kinkead,  weaver,  of  Augusta,  for  £54,  530  acres,  being  part  of 
1,061  acres  conveyed  to  John  Kinkead,  Clerk,  by  James  Patton 
and  John  Lewis,  July  17,  1745.  John,  grantee,  and  his  wife 
Elizabeth,  conveyed  106  acres  thereof  to  Andrew  Kinkead, 
August  21,  1770,  for  £40. 

August  19,  1766,  Robert  Kinkead  and  Anna  Helena  , 

his  wife,  conveyed  to  Matthew  Kinkead,  174^  acres  for 
£72. 10s.,  being  part  of  334  acres  conveyed  to  Robert  by  James 
Bratton,  April  20,  1763,  on  a  draft  of  Christian's  Creek,  and 
abutting  on  John  Lewis's  land. 

Thomas  Kinkead,  the  brother  of  Capt.  William  Kinkead,  and 
son  of  the  elder  Thomas,  was  a  highway  surveyor  and  constable 


22 


338  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

in  1773.  January  10.  1771.  he  ])urchased  from  Jacob  Persinger 
a  tract  in  Greenbrier,  known  as  the  "Spring  Lick,"  which  wzs 
surveyed  for  the  Greenbrier  Company.  October  6.  1751.  before 
which  date  he  was  settled  thereon.  Nearby  stood  Boughman's 
Fort,  which  was  destroyed  by  the  Indians  in  1754.  In  a 
chancery  suit,  in  1803,  it  was  declared  that  Thomas  Kinkead 
was  a  very  ignorant  and  illiterate  man.  But  his  wife  was 
Susannah  Lockridge,  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  most  prominent 
men  in  the  county.  Thomas  had  a  son  named  William  whose 
wife  was  named  Rebecca.  Thomas  seems  to  have  moved  to  the 
Ohio  country  about  1800.  Robert  Kinkead  married  Peggy 
Lockridge. 

The  fact  that  among  the  first  Kinkeades  to  comes  to  Augusta 
there  were  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  a  former  clerk  of  a  court 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  one  who  became  captain  of  one  of  the  few 
companies  raised  in  that  section,  indicates  that  the  family  was 
one  of  more  than  ordinary  character.  Thomas,  son  of  Thomas, 
and  brother  of  Capt.  William  Kinkead.  is  referred  to  in  a  suit 
long  after  his  death  as  illiterate  and  ignorant.  But  the  great 
majority  of  the  pioneers  of  Augusta,  and  especially  those  who 
were  young  and  untutored  when  they  arrived,  were  illiterate 
tnen,  and  those  who  pressed  far  out  into  the  frontier  wilds,  as 
did  Thomas  Kinkead,  were  undoubtedly  ignorant  men — ignorant 
in  the  sense  that  they  would  be  so  st^•led  in  a  chancery  suit  of 
a  later  generation  invohing  a  knowledge  on  their  part  of  busi- 
ness affairs,  titles,  property  values,  etc.,  etc. 

For  many  years  the  only  schooling  the  children  of  these 
people  had  in  Western  Pennsylvania  and  then  in  Augusta,  was 
at  the  knee  of  their  hard-pressed  parents,  and  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  ordinary  man  in  Sterlingshire,  whence  came 
the  Kinkeads.  and  in  the  rural  districts  of  Scotland  in  general 
could  not  read  and  write  in  1750.  In  New  England  and  Eastern 
\^irginia  hundreds  of  intelligent  men  made  their  "mark"  at  a 
later  date.  The  man  who  was  educated  well  enough  to  be  a 
clerk  of  court  or  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  was  almost  as  ex- 
ceptional in  Augusta  in  1750.  as  was  a  scrivenor  or  a  monk  in 
the  middle  ages.  And  yet  the  Kinkead  family.  lea\ing  Scotland, 
when  we  know  not.  but  settling  first  in  the  frontier  regions  of 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         339 

Pennsylvania  and  later  in  Augusta,  boasted  at  least  two  mem- 
bers of  an  extraordinary  degree  of  education,  which  w^ould  seem 
to  indicate  a  correspondingly  high  social  position  on  their  part, 
as  did  the  selection  of  William  Kinkead  to  command  a  militia 
company.  These  conclusions  are  inferential,  of  course,  but 
they  are  firmly  supported  by  the  nature  of  the  references  in  the 
records  to  the  family.  The  elder  Thomas  and  Capt.  William 
Kinkead  were  neighbors  and  friends  of  John  Lewis  and  his  son, 
Andrew,  both  of  whom  were  styled  "Gentlemen"  in  the  records. 
That  title  had  a  distinct  meaning  in  colonial  days.  They  were 
constantly  associated  with  Archibald  and  Andrew  Hamilton,  two 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  county,  not  only  in  business,  but  in 
social  and  church  affairs,  and  William  Kinkead  and  Andrew 
Hamilton  were  trustees  together  of  the  same  kirk.  Only  men 
of  the  highest  standing  in  the  community  were  entrusted  by  their 
people  with  the  management  of  church  affairs. 

William  Kinkead  participated  in  Bouquet's  Expedition  of 
1763,  as  an  ensign  in  the  company  of  Capt.  Charles  Lewis,  and 
was  accompanied  by  his  two  brothers — Thomas  and  John.  For 
his  services  on  this  occasion  he  was  allowed  50  acres  in  January, 
1780.  This  expedition  against  the  Indians  took  its  name  from 
its  leader,  Henry  Bouquet,  who  was  born  in  Switzerland  in 
1719,  and,  after  entering  the  army  of  the  Low  Countries  in 
1736,  served  alternately  with  the  Dutch  and  Sardinians.  In 
1756  he  entered  the  British  service  in  America  as  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  "Royal  American  Regiment."  In  1758  he  was 
second  in  command  under  General  Forbes  when  the  latter 
captured  Fort  Duquesne  from  the  French.  In  1763  he  was 
given  a  force  of  500  men  and  dispatched  to  the  relief  of  that 
fort,  then  known  as  Fort  Pitt.  (Pittsburg.)  Defeating  Pontiac 
and  his  followers,  who  were  besieging  the  fort,  at  Bushy  Run, 
he  broke  up  the  great  conspiracy  between  the  French  and  the 
Indians.  In  October,  1764.  he  compelled  the  Ohio  Indians  to 
make  peace  at  Tuscarawas.  (See  Parkman's  "Conspiracy  of 
Pontiac")  In  all  of  this  campaigning  William  Kinkead  and  his 
kin  engaged. 

"In  the  year  1764,  William  Kinkead  (later  Captain  Kinkead) 
lived  near  the  source  of  the  Big  Calfpasture  River.   Augusta 


340  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

County,  his  family  consisting"  of  his  wife  (Eleanor  Guy)  and 
two  children,  a  boy  and  a  girl.  The  story  is,  that  because  of  the 
insecurity  of  the  times,  the  neighbors  had  brought  their  valuable 
possessions  to  Kinkead's  house,  it  being  a  larger  and  safer  place 
than  their  own  dwellings.  This  fact  became  known,  and  led  to 
an  attack  by  the  Indians. 

"On  the  14th  of  April,  1764,  Kinkead  being  out  on  his  farm, 
his  home  was  beset  by  a  party  of  savages.  His  wife,  finding 
that  escape  was  impossible,  with  extraordinary  heroism  assisted 
the  Indians  in  their  hurried  preparations  to  leave,  so  that  they 
might  get  off  before  her  husband's  return,  and  danger  to  his 
life  be  avoided.  When  he  came  liack,  his  wife  and  children 
had  been  carried  ofif. 

"Nothing  was  heard  of  the  captives  until  after  Bouquet's 
treaty  of  November,  1764,  when  Mrs.  Kinkead,  with  other 
prisoners,  was  delivered  up  in  pursuance  of  the  stipulation.  She 
carried  in  her  arms  an  infant  daughter  born  during  her  captivity, 
July  25,  1764.  Her  account  of  the  two  other  children  was,  that 
the  boy  kept  up  with  the  party  on  their  return  to  the  Ohio  for 
several  days,  but  he  was  put  in  the  immediate  charge  of  a  young- 
Indian,  who  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  tormenting  the  child,  by 
pushing  him  back,  and  forcing  him  to  reclimb  banks  and  steep 
places.  By  this  system  of  treatment  the  little  captive  became 
exhausted  and  unable  to  proceed  as  at  first.  He  was  then 
tomahawked  and  killed  in  his  mother's  presence,  one  of  the 
Indians,  however,  ha\'ing  the  humanity  to  cover  her  eyes  that 
she  might  not  witness  the  spectacle.  The  daughter  was  separated 
from  her  mother  about  the  time  the  infant  was  born.  Her 
name  was  Isabella.  She  was  not  recovered  by  her  parents  until 
some  time  after  her  mother's  release.  When  brought  to  the 
rendezvous  she  was  dressed  in  skins  and  clung  to  the  skirt  of  a 
squaw.  So  changed  was  she  in  appearance  that  even  her  mother 
failed  to  recognize  her  at  first,  but  finally  identified  her  by  a  scar 
on  her  foot,  where  she  had  been  bled.  She  grew'  up,  married 
Andrew  Hamilton,  and  has  many  descendants. 

"Mrs.  Kinkead  stated  that  the  Indians  treated  her  with  great 
kindness,  and  that  at  the  time  of  her  confinement  everything 
possible  was  done  for  her  comfort." 

The  foregoing  narratixe  is  extracted  from  Waddell's  "Annals 
of  Augusta  County."     The  writer  has  lieard  his  father  recount 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         341 

it  often.  The  capture  of  his  wi'fe  and  children  by  the  Indians 
would  seem  to  account  for  William  Kinkead  taking  part  in 
Bouquet's  expedition.  And  yet  the  writer  is  puzzled  bv  a 
register  in  the  abstracts  of  Augusta  records,  under  date  of 
February.  1756,  which,  after  enumerating  losses  in  the  fighting 
with  the  Indians,  includes  the  item,  "]\Irs.  Kinkead  and  3 
children,  at  Jackson  River,  prisoners."  In  the  same  register 
John  Guy  is  mentioned  as  "Killed  at  South  Branch." 

Eleanor  Guy  did  not  marry  William  Kinkead  until  November, 
1756.  He  was  but  nineteen  years  old  in  Februarv.  1756.  His 
wife  was  born  in  1740.  She  could  not  have  been  the  mother 
of  two  children  able  to  walk  when  she  was  sixteen  years  of 
age  even  had  she  been  married  before  1756.  The  whole  thing  is 
very  confusing,  and  one  is  compelled  to  speculate  on  the  un- 
reliability of  tradition.  We  have  a  contemporaneous  record  of 
the  capture  of  "Mrs.  Kinkead  and  3  children."  and  that  is  all 
that  agrees  with  a  familv  tradition  that  has  been  cherished  these 
many  years.  The  particular  ]\Irs.  Kinkead  of  the  record  abso- 
lutely does  not  correspond  with  the  lady  of  the  tradition,  and 
it  is  very  exasperating  not  to  be  able  to  reconcile  their  obvious 
disagreement !  There  may  have  been  two  Kinkead  mothers 
captured — one  in  1756  and  (  ne  v^  176-1 — but  that  hardlv  seems 
probable.  At  anv  rate,  the  main  features  of  the  romantic  tradi- 
tion are  substartiated  in  the  Augusta  records,  and  that  is  more 
than  can  be  said  about  most  of  the  similar  family  lore. 

In  March.  1773.  Capt.  William  Kinkead  was  mentioned  with 
Andrew  Hamilton  and  others  as  a  trustee  of  a  congregation  of 
dissenters  on  the  Calf  pasture  River.  From  this  entry  we  should 
judge  that  he  was  more  liberal  than  most  of  his  countrymen  in 
Augusta ! 

The  ScotchTrish  settlers  of  Augusta  were  not  content  to  rest 
on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  verv  mystery  sur- 
rounding the  vast  region  beyond,  into  which  the  savages  had 
now  been  driven,  lured  them  on  and  e\er  westward.  John 
Sevier  of  Rockingham  County,  then  a  part  of  Augusta,  and 
who  founded  the  town  of  New  Market  in  the  present  Shenan- 
doah County,  in  1764.  first  crossed  the  Alleghanies  in  1772. 
He  was  a  celebrated   Indian  fighter,   and   feared  not  what  lav 


342  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

before  him.  The  prece(Hng  year  Isaac  Shelby,  who  was  born  in 
Hagerstown.  Md..  in  1750,  had  settled  with  his  father  at  the 
present  site  of  Bristol  (Tenn.  and  Va.).  Both  of  these 
indomitable  frontiersmen  held  high  commissions  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary Army,  and  fought  at  Point  Pleasant  and  King's  Moun- 
tain. When  the  war  commenced  Daniel  Boone  had  already 
entered  Kentucky,  preceded  in  1767  by  John  Finley,  a  trapper. 
Fired  by  Finley's  tales,  Boone  and  five  companions  visited  Ken- 
tucky in  1769,  remained  two  years,  and  returned  to  Kentucky 
with  five  families  in  1773.  In  1775  he  built  a  fort  at  Boones- 
boro.  Sevier,  who  had  followed  Boone  westward,  organized 
the  State  of  Franklin  of  which  he  was  governor  from  1785 
to  1788,  and  later  became  the  first  governor  of  Tennessee  in 
1796.  In  1783  Shelby  entered  the  present  bounds  of  Kentucky, 
and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  erection  of  the  State  of  Kentucky 
out  of  Virginia  territory,  becoming  its  first  governor  in  1792. 
To  these  redoubtable  pioneers  and  Indian  fighters — Sevier  and 
Shelby — the  men  of  Augusta  flocked  in  great  numbers.  Augusta 
was  becoming  overcrowded,  and  feeling  the  pressure  of  the 
German  migration  from  Pennsylvania,  which  set  in  about  this 
time,  hundreds  of  younger  men  from  the  worn-out  tidewater 
and  piedmont  sections  of  Virginia  joined  in  the  new  movement 
to  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  which  assumed  the  proportions  of  a 
social  migration.  We  are  told  that  in  1832  there  were  not  less 
than  400,000  Virginia-born  men  living  beyond  the  limits  of  their 
home  state,  of  which  number  there  w-ere  about  180,000  in  the 
Ohio  country  alone.  Vast  opportunities  in  the  west  awaited 
them,  and  so  they  thronged  w^estward,  lured  on  by  the  promise 
of  a  better  fortune  than  the  crowded  east  afforded. 

In  1780  the  population  of  Virginia  was  approximately  500,000 
people.  Norfolk,  the  only  town  of  any  size  in  Virginia,  num- 
bered less  than  10,000  inhabitants.  The  population  was,  there- 
fore, almost  wholly  rural,  and  not  less  than  450,000  people  w-ere 
confined  to  the  comparatively  limited  area  lying  south  of  the 
Potomac  and  east  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  country  east  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  and  certainly  in  the  tidewater  section,  must  have 
been  more  densely  occupied  than  it  is  to-day,  if  we  leave  out  of 
consideration  the  cities  and  larger  towns.     Small  wonder  then 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         343 

that  the  men  of  all  sections  of  the  then  occupied  portion  of  the 
present  State  of  Virginia  harkened  to  the  cry  of  "Westward 
Ho!" 

The  Hamiltons,  and  the  Kinkeads,  and  the  Guys  of  Augusta, 
and  the  Hales  of  Fauquier,  were  among  those  who  crossed  the 
mountains  and  settled  in  Woodford  County.  Kentucky. 

Before  removing  to  Kentucky.  William  Kinkead  commanded 
a  company  of  militia  in  the  Revolution.  In  ]\Iarch,  1777,  he 
was  sent  out  from  Staunton  with  his  company  to  garrison  a 
frontier  blockhouse  on  the  IMonongalia,  and  on  September  15, 
1778.  he  qualified  as  a  captain.  In  1781  he  commanded  a  com- 
pany in  Col.  Sampson  jMathews'  regiment,  and  served  with  it 
about  Fredericksburg  and  Portsmouth.  This  regiment  was. 
therefore,  in  Eastern  Virginia  when  the  battle  of  King's  Moun- 
tain was  fought.  (Waddell's  "Annals  of  Augusta  County, 
Virginia."   and   Chalkley's   "Abstracts."  ) 

Captain  Kinkead  married.  November  30.  1756.  Eleanor  Guy 
(sometimes  Gay  in  the  records),  who  was  born  August  17. 
1740.  and  died  October  16.  1825.  Her  maternal  grandfather 
was  in  the  siege  of  Londonderry. 

\\'illiam  Hamilton,  of  Woodford  County.  Kentucky,  son  of 
Andrew  Hamilton  and  Isabella  Kinkead,  the  latter  born  April 
19.  1762.  married  EHza  Hale,  daughter  of  Smith  Hale  and 
Nancy  Douglas.  Smith  Hale  was  born  August  31,  1765,  and 
died  about  1817.  He.  like  the  Hamiltons  and  Kinkeads,  had 
migrated  to  Woodford  County  from  Virginia.  They  all  bore 
prominent  parts  in  the  settlement  of  \\'oodford  County  and 
made  their  impress  upon  its  history. 

The  Hale  genealogy  is  most  interesting.  (See  WiUiain  and 
Mary  Quarterly,  Vol.' XVII.,  pp.  202.  296.) 

This  family  seems  to  begin  in  Virginia  with  Nicholas  Haile. 
of  York  County,  planter,  who.  in  1654.  gave  a  power  of  attorney 
to  Dr.  Thomas  Roots  in  Lancaster  County.  His  son  was  George 
Heale,  who  executed  a  power  of  attorney,  November  8.  1677. 
and  whose  wife  was  named  as  Ellen  in  1682. 

George  Heale  was  sworn  justice  of  Lancaster  Court  in  1684; 
and  in  1695  and  1697  he  served  as  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses.     His  will,  dated  December  3,   1697,  was  proved  in 


344  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Lancaster  County.  January  12,  1697-98.  That  of  his  wife  was 
dated  October  15,  1710,  and  proved  in  Lancaster,  December  3, 
1710.  According  to  these  records  they  had  issue:  Hannah, 
married  William  Ball  ( son  of  William,  son  of  William,  the 
immigrant);  George;  John;  Joseph:  Nicholas;  Ellen:  Eliza- 
beth, who  married  \\'illiam  Davenport,  November  26,  1728; 
Sarah,  who  married  Newman  Brockenborough  (Marriage  Bond, 
1715);  and  William,  who  was  born  after  the  making  of  his 
fatlier's  will.  According  to  a  division  of  Mrs.  Heale's  estate, 
januarv  5,  1710-11,  her  daughter  Ellen  Heale  married  Opie. 

Of  these  children.  William  Heale  lived  in  Lancaster  County, 
where  he  married  Priscilla  Downman,  daughter  of  William 
Downman  and  William  Travers,  daughter  of  Col.  Rawleigh 
Tra\-ers,  of  Rappahannock  County,  member  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses,  1663-1666,  etc.  (See  will  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
\\'ormelev.  her  sister,  16^4;  will  of  William  Downman,  proved 
in  Richmond  County,  June  4,  1721  :  and  other  wills  and  deeds 
of  record.)  His  will  was  dated  Februarv  6,  1731-32,  and  proved 
July  12.  1732,  and  names  his  wife  Priscilla,  brother  Joseph 
Heale  and  his  former  wife,  Elizabeth,  brother  George  Heale, 
brother  John  Heale.  and  Mrs.  Pinkard,  his  wife's  sister,  and 
her  children,  George  and  Betty.  The  latter  married  Kendall 
Lee  (Marriage  Bond.  Tnlv,  1749).  Inventory  of  William  Heale. 
£1.743  19s.  2d. 

George  Heale.  son  of  William,  married  Sarah  Smith,  born 
December  28.  1732  (Marriage  Bond,  January  20,  1746).  She 
was  the  daughter  of  Capt.  Philip  Smith,  of  Elect's  Bay, 
Northumberland,  vestryman,  died  1743,  and  Mary  ]\Iathew^s, 
great-granddaughter  of  Gov.  Samuel  ^lathews,  after  whom 
Mathews  County  was  named.  Capt.  Philip  Smith  was  the  son 
of  Col.  John  Smith  of  "Purton,"  Gloucester  County,  who  mar- 
ried, Ee'bruary  17.  1680.  Mary  Warner.  The  Smith  family  of 
Gloucester  is  said  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  Tottne,  Devonshire, 
the  arms  of  which  are : 

Arms:    Azure   a   chevron  l)etween   three   acorns  slipped 
and  leaved  or. 

Mary  Warner,  who  married  Col.  John  Smith  of  "Purton," 
Gloucester,  died  November  13,  1700.     She  was  the  daughter  of 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         345 

Col.  Augustine  Warner  II.,  of  "Warner  Hall"  Gloucester,  born 
July  3.  1642,  died  June  10,  1681.  He  was  a  Burgess  in  1674, 
Speaker  of  the  House  in  1675-7,  and  a  member  of  the  Council. 
He  married  Mildred  Reade,  daughter  of  Col.  George  Reade, 
Secretary  of  the  Colony,  and  among  his  daughters  was  Mildred 
W'^arner,  who  married,  first,  Lawrence  \\'ashington  of  West- 
moreland County,  and  was  the  grandmother  of  George  Wash- 
ington. 

The  Warner  arms  are : 

Arms  :    Vert,  a  cross  engrailed  or. 

George  Heale.  who  married  Sarah  Smith.  January  30,  1746, 
was  born  September  8.  1728.  He  was  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses  in  1759.  from  Lancaster,  but  later  moved  to 
Fauquier  County,  where  he  made  his  will,  which  was  proved 
July  28,  1806.  He  names  the  following  children:  William,  who 
married  Susannah  Payne,  daughter  of  Josias  Payne,  the  elder, 
of  Goochland  (Marriage  Bond  in  Goochland,  dated  June  2L 
1761):  Smith,  who  married  Nancy  Douglas:  Joseph;  Mary, 
who  married  ^  Love  :  Priscilla  :  Sarali :  Mildred;  Eliza- 
beth, who  married  Ewell :    and  Jane. 

Smith  Heale,  son  of  George  Heale  and  Sarah  Smith,  fifth 
in  descent  from  Nicholas  Haile  of  York,  married  Nancy 
Douglas,  daughter  of  Col.  William  Douglas  of  "Garrallan"  and 
"Montressor,"  Loudoun  County,  and  moved  to  Woodford 
County,  Kentucky.  He  made  a  will,  dated  September  18,  1813, 
which  was  proved  April,  1814.  in  \\'oodford  County.     In  it  he 

mentions  the  following  children :    Sarah,  who  married  I.  

Mofifett  (one  child.  Hiram  Moffett )  :  William  Patterson  of 
Cooper  County,  Missouri;  Katherine.  who  married  William 
Payne,  of  Lexington,  Ky. :  Margaret,  who  married  Captain 
Merry,  of  Missouri:  Maria,  who  married  Edward  Payne,  of 
Kentucky;  Jane,  spinster;  Susanna  Smith,  who  married  Wm. 
H.  Martin,  who  had  Catherine  Jane,  who  married  Warren  Viley, 
father  of  Martinelle,  who  married  Lister  Witherspoon ;  Lewis 
Douglas  Hale,  who  married  Letitia  Flournoy ;  Antionette.  who 
married  Dr.  Ezra  Offret ;  Armistead  ;  Patrick  Douglas ;  George 
William;     and    Eliza,    who   married,    first,    William    Hamilton; 


346 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


and,  second,  Marquis  Calnies,  whose  father  was  probably  resi- 
dent in  iM-ederick  County,  Virginia,  in  1772.  ( Hening,  Vol. 
VIII.,  p.  624.) 

It  was  a  very  common  habit  of  our  ancestors  to  spell  a  name 
one  way  and  pronounce  it  another.     The  name  Heale,  as  it  was 


NANCY  HAMILTON 

Wife    of   Hugh    Douglas 
Pinxit   Cooper 

written  in  the  Virginia  records,  appears  to  have  been  pronounced 
Hale  in  colonial  times.  Smith  Heale,  who  went  to  Kentucky, 
assumed  to  spell  the  name  as  it  was  pronounced  on  the  frontier. 
We  now  return  to  Mildred  Reade,  wdfe  of  Col.  Augustine 
Warner  II.  Colonel  Warner  is  the  only  man  who  can  be  said  to 
be  an  ancestor  of  both  George  Washington  and  General  Lee.  His 
wife  w-as  a  direct  descendant,  and  therefore  George  Washington 
was  also,  of  Edward  Dymoke,  Hereditary  Champion  of  Eng- 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCEJ^DANTS         347 

land.  Mildred  Reade  was  the  daughter  of  Col.  George  Reade, 
who  came  to  Virginia  in  1637,  and  in  1640  was  Secretary  of 
State  pro  tcin.,  Burgess  for  James  City  County  in  1649  and 
1656,  and  member  of  the  Council  in  1657-8,  holding  that  office 
until  his  death  in  1671.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Capt.  Nicholas  Martain  of  York  County.  He  was  the  son  of 
Robert  Reade  and  Mildred,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Winde- 
banke,  and  his  grandfather  was  Andrew  Reade  of  the  manor 
of  Linkenholt,  Hampshire,  whose  will  was  probated  in  1623. 
The  family  was  sprung  from  the  Reades  of  Faccombe,  in  the 
County  of  Southampton,  whose  arms  are: 

Arms  :    Azure  guttee  d'or.  a  cross-crosslet  fitchee  of  the 

last. 
Crest  :    A  shoveller  close  sable. 

William  Hamilton  and  Eliza  Hale  had  a  daughter,  Nancy 
Hamilton,  who  was  born  August  10,  1813,  and  died  November 
20,  1869.  She  married  Hugh  Douglas,  her  half  first  cousin 
once  removed,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  had  Evelyn  (Byrd  or 
Arch)  Beverley  Douglas.  (See  Chapters  XVHI.  and  XX.) 
She  married  John  Sergeant  Wise,  who  was  her  distant  cousin 
through  his  ancestor.  Col.  George  Douglas.  Through  her 
ancestor,  Col.  George  Reade,  she  and  her  descendants  are  de- 
scended from  Alfred  the  Great,  Charlemagne,  and  Hugh  Capet, 
as  w^ill  appear  from  the  following  charts.  (See  also  "Social 
Life  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,"  Bruce,  p.  54.) 


CHART  I. 

ROYAL  DESCENT  OF 
Eva  Douglas  Wise 

FROM 

ALFRED  THE  GREAT. 


Foster's 
Peerage, 
p.   LXVII. 
Burke's  Royal 
Families, 
Vol.  I.,  LXXXII. 


1.  Egbert.   King   of   Wessex,  800-836,   m. 
Raedburg. 


had 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 

F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 

F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 

F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 


2.  Ethehi'olf.  King  of  Wessex,  m.  Osburga,  dau. 

of  Oslac,  cupbearer  to  King  Egbert.  had 

3.  Alfred   the   Great.  King   of  England,  841  ;     d. 

901 ;  m.  Falhawyth.  dau.  of  Ethelred  Mucel 
(The  Great),  Earl  of  Gainsborough,  Mercia.    had 

4.  Edzvard,  "The  Elder,"  King  of  England,  901- 

925,  m.,  3rd,  Edgiva,  dau.  of  Earl  Sigeline, 
Lord  of  Meaphan.  His  dau.  Edgiva  mar. 
Charles  III.,  King  of  France.  had 


.5.  Edmund  /.,  King  of  England,  940-946, 
m.  Elgiva. 


had 


6.  Edgar.  King  of  England.  958-975,  "the  Peace- 
able," m.,  2nd,  Elfrida,  dau.  of  Ordagar, 
Duke  of  Devonshire.  had 


7.  Ethelred   II.,   King    of   England.  970-1016,   m.. 

1001,  Emma,  dau.  of  Richard  I.,  Duke  of 
Normandy  and  his  wife  Gunner.  She  m.  II. 
Canute,  the  Great  King  of  Denmark.  had 

8.  Edmund  "Ironsides,"  King   of  England,   1016, 

m.  Sigiferth.  had 

9.  Edivard  Atheline,  "The  Exile,"  d.  1057,  resided 

in  Hungary  until  recalled  by  his  Uncle 
Edward ;    m.  Agatha.  had 


350 


Col.  JOHN  WISE 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  LXXXII. 


F.  LXVII. 
Burke's 
Peerage,  CV. 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  CV. 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  CVI. 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  CVI. 


F.  LXVII. 
B.  CVI. 


F.  LXVIII. 
Burke's 
Peers,  CVII. 


F. 
B. 


F. 

B.  CVII. 


F. 
B. 


F.  LXVIII. 
Burke's 
Peers,  CVII. 


10.  Matilda    or    Margaret    Atheling.    m.    Malcolm 

III..  King  of  Scofs.  1053-1093.  had 

Sou  of  Duncan.  King  of  Scots. 


11.  Matilda.  Crowned  Queen  of  England,  1100;    d. 

May  1,  1118;  m.  Henry  I.,  King  of  Eng- 
land; crowned  Nov.;  b.  1100;  d.  Dec.  1, 
1135;  son  of  William  the  Conqueror,  and 
his  wife  Matilda.     (See  Chart  II.)  had 

12.  Maud.   1).    1104;     d.    1167;    m.    Geoffrey    Plan- 

tagenet.  son  of  Fulkc.  King  of  J erusaleni, 
also  Count  of  Anjou,  he  d.  Sept.  7,  1150.        had 

13.  Henry    //..    King    of    England,    1154-1189,    m. 

Eleanor,  Duchess  of  Guinenne,  who  d.  June, 
1202,  and  Countess  of  Poitou  and  Aquitaine.    had 

14.  John  -Lackland:'  King  of  England.  1199-1216; 

crowned  1199;  m.  (2),  Aug..  1200,  Isabella 
of  Angouleme,  dau.  of  Aymer  de  Taillifer 
and  his  wife  Alice  de  Courtenay,  dau.  of 
Peter  de  Courtenay,  son  of  Louis  VL,  King 
of  France.      (See   Chart   III.)  had 

15.  Henry   HL,   King    of   England,    1216-1272,    m. 

Eleanor  of  Provence,  dau.  of  Raymond, 
Count  of   Berenger.  had 


16.  Edward  /.,  King  of  England,  1239-1307,  "The 

Confessor";  crowned  1274;  m.  Eleanor,  dau. 

of  Ferdinard  HL,  King  of  Castile  and  Leon,    had 

17.  Edward    H.,    King     of    England,     1284-1327; 

crowned  1307;  m.  Isabella,  d.  1358,  dau.  of 
Philip  n\.  King  of  France  and  his  wife 
Jane,  Queen  of  Navarra.     (See  Chart  III.)      had 

\^.  Edward  HL,  ^King  of  England.  1312-1377; 
crowned  1327;  m.  Philippa,  dau.  of  William, 
Count  of  Holland  and  his  wife,  the  grand- 
dau.  of  Philip  HL.  King  of  France.  (See 
Chart   III.)  '  had 

19.  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  b.  1338;  d.  1368; 
m.  Elizabeth  de  Burgh,  dau.  of  William  de 
Burgh.  Earl  of  Ulster  and  his  wife  Maud 
Plantagenet.  had 


20.  Philippa  Plantagenet.  b.  1350;  mar.,  1368,  Ed- 
mund Mortimer,  3rd  Earl  of  March,  d.  1351. 
(Burke's  E.xtinct  Peers.  384.)  had 


HIS  ANCESTORS  AND  DESCENDANTS         351 

F. 

B.,  p.  1100.  21.  Elizabeth  Mortimer,  b.  Feb.   12,  1371;    m.  Sir 

Henry  Percy.  '"Hotspur."  b.  May  30.  1366, 
slain  at  Shrewsbury,  son  of  Sir  Henry 
Percy.  1st  Earl  of  Northumberland  and  his 
wife  Margaret,  dau.  of  Lord  Xeville  of 
Raby.  Sir  Henry,  '"Hotspur,"  was  grandson 
of  Henry.  3rd  Lord  Percy  and  Mary  Plan- 
tagenet.  great-granddau.  of  Henry  III., 
King  of  England,  supra.  had 

B.        "  22.  Sir   Henrv    Percv.   2nd   Earl   of    Northumber- 

land. 1394-1455.  Slain  in  battle  of  St. 
Albans,  1455 :  mar.  Eleanor  Neville,  dau. 
of  Ralph  Neville,  1st  Lord  of  Westmore- 
land and  his  wife  Joane  de  Beaufort,  dau. 
of  John  de  Gaunt.  (Burke's  Extinct  Peers, 
394.)  had 

B.        "  23.  Sir   Henry    Percy,   3rd   Earl    of    Northumber- 

land. 1421-1461,  mar.  Eleanor,  dau.  of  Sir 
Richard  Povnings.  (Burke's  Extinct  Peers, 
424.)  '  had 

F. 

Stevens  nat.  24.  Margaret  Percy,  mar.  Sir  William  Gascoigne, 

son  of  Sir  William  Gascoigne  and  his  wife 
Joane  de  Neville.  had 

Burke's  Extinct 

Peers,  530.  25.  Elizabeth  Gascoigne,  mar.  Sir  George  Talbois, 

Knt.,  son  of  Robert  Talbois,  d.  1538.  (See 
will  of  Sir  George.  Notes  and  Queries, 
Series  8,   Vol.   IV.,  482.)  had 

Stevens  nat. 

Biog.  Die. 

16/295 

55  /342 

62/162  26.  Anne   Talbois,   mar.    Sir   Edward   Dymoke   of 

Scrivelsby,  Lincolnshire,  Hereditary  Cham- 
pion of  England,  d.  1566,  a  direct  descendant 
of  Edzvard  I.,  King  of  England,  by  his  2nd 
wife  Margaret.  (Scrivelsby,  the  House  of 
the  Champions,  p.  162.)  had 

'"  62/162 

Scrivelsby,  1893, 

p.  71  (by  Lodge).  27.  Frances  Dymoke.  mar.,  Aug.  20,  1566.  Sir 
Thomas  Windebank,  Knt. :  knighted  1603 ; 
d.  Oct.  24,  1607;  clerk  of  the  Signet  to 
Queen  Elizabeth  and  King  James,  son  of  Sir 
Richard  Windebank  of  Eerks.  1533.  They 
had  one  son.  Sir  Thomas,  1582-1646,  and 
three  daughters,  of  whom 

Stevens 

62/163  28.  Mildred    Windebank,    d.     1630,    mar.    Robert 

Reade  (son  of  Andrew  Reade,  of  Linken- 
holt,  Eng.),  will  dated  Dec.  10,  1626.  Be- 
sides Thomas  Reade,  "The  Royalist,"  they 
had 


352  Col.  JOHN  WISE 

Stevens,  47,  353. 

Va.  Hist.  Mag. 

IV.,  204. 

W.  &  M.  Quarterly, 

XIV.,  117-125.  29.  Col.    George    Reade,    1600-1671;     Secretary   of 

the  Colony  of  Virginia,  1640;  Burgess,  1649, 
1655-6;  Member  of  Council,  1657-8;  mar. 
Elizabeth  Martain,  dau.  of  Capt.  Nicholas 
Martain,  York  Co.,  \"a..  Justice  Burgess, 
1631-3.  (Hening  I.,  358.  421,  432.  Stan- 
ard's  Colonial  Va.  Register,  38,  72,  67. 
Martain,  57,  58,  59.) 

30.  Mildred  Reade,  mar.  Col.  Augustine  Warner, 

b.  Oct.  20,  1643:  d.  June  10,  1681.  Burgess 
Va.,  1674;  Speaker,  1675;  Councillor,  1676- 
1677.  had 

31.  Marv  Warner,  b.  ;    d.  1700;    mar.  Feb.  17, 

1680,  Col.  John  Smith  of  Purton,  Glou- 
cester Co.,  Va.  had 

32.  Capt.    Philip    Smith    of    Fleet's    Bay,    North- 

umberland  Co..   Va.,   b.   ;     d.    1743;     m. 

Mary    Matthews.  had 

W.  &  M.  Quart., 

17,  298.  33.  Sarah  Smith,  mar.  Jan.  30,  1746,  George  Heale 

of  Lancaster  Co.,  Va.  Burgess,  1759.  Will 
probated  July  28.  1806.  had 

34.  Smith    Hale    of    Fauquier    Co..    Va.,    d.    Ken- 

tucky, 1817,  Woodford  Co. ;  mar.  Nancy 
Douglas  of  Fauquier  Co.,  Va.  had 

35.  Eliza  Hale,  m.  Wm.  Hamilton. 

36.  Nancy   Hamilton,  m.   Hugh   Douglas. 

37.  Eva  Douglas,  m.  John  S.  Wise. 

Charts   I.,   II.,   III.   are  correct  to  the  best  of   my  knowledge  and  belief, 
having  been  proven  by  me. 

Horace  Edwin  Hayden. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  before  me  this  9th  day  of  Feb.,   1910. 
My  com.  ex.  Jan.  5,  1913. 

Faith  A.  Bullard,  Notary  Public. 

The  certificate  and  oath  above  relate  only  to  items   1  to  34.     The  others 
are  added  by  me. 

Jno.  S.  Wise. 


CHART  11. 

ROYAL  DESCENT  OF 
Eva  Douglas  Wise 

FROM 

CHARLEMAGNE. 


Burke's  Royal  1.  Charlonagiie.    Emperor   of   tJic    West.   b.    742; 

Families,  d.    814    (son    of    Pepin,    and    grandson    of 

Vol.  I.,  CIXVII.  Charles    Marfel.     Kings     of     the    Franks)  ; 

m.   Hildegarde  of   Swabia. 

2.  Lezvis   le  Debonaire.  King   of  France,   d.   840. 

m.  Judith   of   Guelph   I. 

3.  Charles  the  Bald.  Emperor  of  France,  d.  877, 

m.    Hermentrude,    dau.    of    Vodon,    Earl    of 
Orleans. 

4.  Judith,  d.  880,  widow  of  King  Ethelwolf.  m. 

Baldwin    I.,    1st    Count    of    Flanders.    "Bras 
de  Fer." 

5.  Baldwin    II..   2nd   Count   of   Flanders,   d.   918, 

m.  Alfretha,  dau.  of  Alfred  the  Great,  who 
d.    901. 

6.  Arnolph    I.,    3rd    Count    of    Flanders,    d.    964. 

mar.    Alice,    dau.    of   Herbert   II..    Count   of 
Vermandois. 

7.  Baldwin   III.,  4th   Count  of   Flanders,   d.  951, 

mar.   Maud  or  Mechild. 

8.  Arnolf   II..  5th   Count  of  Flanders,  d.  981.  m. 

Rosalie,  dau.  of  Berenger  II..  King  of  Italy. 

9.  Baldwin  IV.,  6th  Count  of  Flanders,  d.   1034, 

mar.   Orgive,  dau.  of  Frederic  I.,  Count  of 
Luxemburg. 

10.  Baldwin  V..   7th   Count   of   Flanders,   d.    1067. 

m.  Adela.  dau.  of  Robert  I..  King  of  France. 

11.  Matilda    or    Maud.    mar.     William     the    Con- 

queror. 


had 


CHART  III. 

DESCENT  OF 
Eva  Douglas  Wise 

FROM 

HUGH  CAPET,  KING  OF  FRANCE. 

Larousse  1.  Robert,  Count  de  Paris,  d.  922. 

Cyclopedia. 

2.  Hugh    the    Great,    Count    de    Paris,    due    de 

France,  d.  956. 

3.  Hugh  Capet,  King  of  France,  939-996. 

4.  Robert    le    Diable,    de     Magnifique,     due     de 
Normandie,  d.  1035. 

King  of  France,  m.  Constance. 

5.  Henry  I.,  King  of  France,  b.  1011;    d.  1050. 

6.  Pliilip  I.,  King  of  France,  b.  1052-3;    d.  1108. 

7.  Louis  VI.,  King  of  France. 

8.  Louis  VH.,  King  of  France. 

9.  Pliilip  Augustus  //.,  King  of  France. 
10.  Louis  JHH.,  King  of  France. 

"     "      "  11.  Louis  IX.,  Saint  Louis,  King  of  France. 

12,  "     810.  12.  Philip  III.,  King  of  France. 

"     "      "  13.  Philip  IV.,  King  of  France. 

"     •'      "  14.  Isabel  M.,  Edward  II.,  King  of  England. 

No.  17,  Chart  I. 

Attest :  Horace  Edwin  Hayden. 


13,  ' 

'  1250. 

9.  ' 

'     184. 

12,  ' 

'    809. 

10.  ' 

'    699. 

10.  ' 

'    699. 

12, 

■    809. 

10. 

■    699. 

AUTHORITIES. 

Journal  of  the  House  of  Burgesses. 

Hening's  Revised  Statutes  of  Virginia,  and  Casey's  Index. 

Court  Records,   Accomack  and   Northampton   Counties :    Order  and   Will 
Books. 

Colonial  Virginia  Register,   Stanard. 

Early  History  of  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia,  Wise. 

Virginia  Historical  Collections. 

Virginia  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography. 

William  and  Mary  Quarterly. 

Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers. 

Life  of  Henry  A.  Wise.  Barton  H.  Wise. 

Devonshire  Parishes,  Charles  Worthy. 

Wise  Arms  and  Pedigree :    Norman  Conquest  to  1913,  E.  Thomas  Sutton. 

Burke's  Landed  Gentry  of  England. 

Virginia  Heraldica,  Crozier. 

Colonial  Families,  Emory. 

Family  Parchment  Rolls  of   Maj.  Lewis  Lovatt  Ayshford  Wise  of  Eng- 
land, dating  from  the  Eleventh  Century. 

Researches,  Charts  and  Papers  of  John  Sergeant  Wise. 

Researches  of  James  Dunlop  Wise. 

Personal  Researches  of  the  Compiler,  J.  C.  Wise. 

Researches  and  Certificates  of  Horace  Edwin  Hayden. 

Early  New  England  People,  S.  E.  Titcomb. 

The  Quaker  Invasion  of  Massachusetts,  Hallowell. 

John  Brainerd,  Rev.  Thomas  Brainerd. 

Social  History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  Bruce. 

Economic  History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  Bruce. 

Institutional  History  of  Virginia  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  Bruce. 

Meade's  Old   Churches,   Ministers,   and   Families  of   Virginia,  and  Wise's 
Index. 

Documents  at  the  College  of  Heraivls. 

Authorities  cited  in  the  text. 


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